Hogwarts in France
by I-Confuse-Everyone
Summary: Harry Potter is stressed and Dumbledore comes up with the perfect solution: a trip to France! How much chaos can be caused by five Gryffindors, one Slytherin and two professors staying together for one week in a small gite in North France? AU. COMPLETE!
1. Stressed

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter One**

**Stressed**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

"Arrghhh!" screamed Harry Potter, "I can't take it anymore!"

He paced around the Gryffindor common room; unconsciously brushing the irritating stray bit of black hair that fell over his eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Ron. Hermione looked up from her eight inch Transfiguration essay on Animagus transformations, looking concerned.

"What's wrong? It's the Easter holidays. It's over our year until our NEWTs! Yet the Professors insist on giving us mountain loads of homework!" Harry exploded.

"Well, it will help us in the long run," Hermione said, timidly, "I mean, by spreading it out we won't have to revise as much just before the exams!"

Ron snorted. "Like that will stop you from giving us those wonderful revision timetables again!"

Hermione's face lit up. "That reminds me Ron! I haven't given you this year's yet!" She hurriedly got up and ran up the girl's stairs.

"Nice one, Ron!" said Harry, sarcastically, still in a bad mood. Ron flushed crimson.

"I'm going out for a fly on my broom. See if that will make me feel better. Want to come?" said Harry, rubbing his forehead, agitatedly.

"No thanks mate," said Ron, "I'll stay here with Hermione."

Harry smirked. It was so obvious that Ron liked Hermione. "Alright, if you're sure. See you soon!"

He left the common room and walked briskly through school. He began to think about the huge amounts of homework he still had to complete before term began again in just over a week.

"Stupid homework! Stupid teachers giving us too much stupid homework. Merlin I need a break! But _oh no_ stupid teachers keep our noses to the grindstone and make us work so hard. Bet I'll have a mental breakdown before long!" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Harry?" asked a pleasant voice. Harry looked up at the unidentified speaker.

"Oh, hello Professor Dumbledore," he grunted, not in the mood to have a conversation with the Headmaster.

Dumbledore looked at Harry, concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked,

"I've been better," muttered Harry, scowling,

"How so?" asked the Headmaster,

"I'm just feeling overworked with all the homework I have to do and everything that's going on," said Harry, honestly, seeing a kindly and concerned glint in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Ah," said Professor Dumbledore, "Well, we'll have to deal with that. And I think I have just the idea. Yes, just the idea! Ah ha!" He rubbed his hands together, thinking hard. "Well, Harry. If you'll come to my office tonight at eight o'clock and bring Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, Miss. Granger and Miss. Weasley with you? I think I have just the solution to your problem!"

"Erm, alright sir," said Harry, completely stumped,

"Very well. I will see you tonight. Enjoy the rest of your day, Harry!" Dumbledore nodded at Harry, beaming, and continued on his way.

Harry stood completely still for a minute. He was completely mystified by Dumbledore's odd behaviour. He shook his head. He needed a good long fly.

* * *

"WHAT!" gasped six voices on hearing Dumbledore's plan.

"Just what I said," replied Dumbledore, mildly, "The six of you, along with Professor's McGonagall and Lupin, will leave tomorrow night on a week long holiday to France, in order to de-stress yourselves."

He surveyed the room in quiet amusement. The faces of the five Gryffindors and one Slytherin were agape in astonishment and disbelief.

"But…why?" spluttered Ron,

"Simply, because I believe you six are working much too hard and deserve a little holiday," explained Dumbledore,

"Why us exactly?" asked Hermione, looking around the room,

"I have my reasons," said Dumbledore, mysteriously.

Harry groaned inwardly. He hated it when Dumbledore said that. 'But _why_ did _Malfoy_ of _all _people have to come with them?'

Ron obviously wanted to know the answer to the same question because of the way he was glaring at Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was glaring just as fiercely back.

"Why do I have to spend time with _these_…Gryffindors?" Malfoy asked, scowling, "If I have to go at all, why can't I go with people who are equals to me in things that _matter_?"

Ron erupted. "Shut up Malfoy!" he yelled, "Everybody here is better than you in everyway possible! What makes you think you're better than us?"

"Hmm. I wonder Weasel," drawled Malfoy, "Maybe because I, unlike you and Weaslette, am _rich. _Also, I, unlike Potter and Longbottom have _parents_ and I, unlike Granger, am not a _mudblood_!"

"How dare you?" yelled Ginny, her face flushing red, "How dare you call Hermione a mudblood? I'd rather have Muggle parents than be like you!"

"Yeah!" said Harry, angrily, "And even though Neville and I might not be able to live with our parents, at least they're better than yours! I'd kill myself if Lucius Malfoy was related to me!"

"Well, go and kill yourself and do everyone a favour!" spat Malfoy.

"Enough!" thundered Dumbledore, immediately silencing everyone. "You will be living with one another for a week in a tiny gite in the north of France and going on excursions with each other every day so I suggest you learn to treat one another with respect!"

Everybody glowered silently.

"Anyway," said Dumbledore, "Tomorrow, you will need to pack some clothes in the trunks I will have sent to your dormitories. You will have one trunk each and in it pack whatever you think you will need for a week in north France. You will be acting as Muggles outside of the gite so be prepared and take Muggle clothing. If you don't have any, you will be provided with some. You will be travelling down to Dover tomorrow night by minibus…"

"_What _is a _minibus_?" snarled Malfoy,

"It's a Muggle vehicle," said Dumbledore, "Then you will be crossing the English Channel by ferry- that's a Muggle vehicle that travels on water."

Neville, Ginny and Ron gasped in astonishment. Malfoy just looked sulky.

"Professor's McGonagall and Lupin will inform you on the rest of the information tomorrow. Please meet them in the Great Hall at quarter to eleven tomorrow evening. Any questions?" asked Professor Dumbledore,

"What about money?" asked Harry,

"You can take any of your own pocket money but there will be a group fund to pay for food and days out," answered Dumbledore, promptly, "Miss. Granger?"

"Does either of the professor's speak French?" asked Hermione, "And will we be able to meet some French witches and wizards?"

"Professor Lupin does speak French," the Headmaster said, "And I believe you are scheduled to visit Beauxbatons on one of the days."

Hermione smiled in excitement and happiness. Harry felt happy for her. He knew she'd always wanted to visit a foreign Wizarding school.

"Well, if that is all, it's time you all went to bed," Dumbledore concluded, "I wish you a most pleasant week and do not hesitate to send me a postcard!"

The Gryffindors laughed. "Goodnight, sir," they chorused and walked excitedly out of the door, followed by a grudging Malfoy. It was going to be an exciting week.

* * *

The five Gryffindors met for breakfast the next day, in the Great Hall. They were all happy and excited at their unexpected holiday.

"I can't believe we're going to visit Beauxbatons!" squealed Hermione, in glee,

"Yeah," said Ron, "I wonder what else we're doing?"

"Well we know it's going to be something in the north of France," said Ginny, sensibly, "Paris is in the north isn't it?"

"Yeah," confirmed Harry, "I've never been to France. It should be good!"

"Yes. I've never been either," said Neville, his round face shining with pleasure.

Professor Lupin passed the Gryffindor table at that moment. He spotted them and came over.

"Hey," he greeted, "Your trunks have been taken to your dormitories so pack after breakfast. Take some recreational stuff as well as clothes, for the evenings and take your stationery equipment too. Alright?"

"Yes," answered everyone,

"See you all later then," Professor Lupin said and moved off.

* * *

"Honestly, are you _still _not packed, Ronald?" said Hermione, entering the sixth year boys dormitory with Ginny, to see a disaster area of clothes everywhere.

"Hey! Harry and Neville aren't packed either!" said Ron, "And I bet you two aren't finished yet either!"

"We've packed all of our clothes. We just came to decide what 'recreational stuff' we should take and in who's trunk," said Hermione,

"Books in Hermione's trunk!" called out Harry, causing a laugh from everybody present,

"I'll take my wizards chess set in my trunk," said Ron, "And everyone else take their own set of pieces if you have them,"

"I'll take my Gobstones set," said Neville,

"Right and I'll pack a few sets of Exploding Snap," Ginny announced,

"Ron, Ginny? Do either of you have any Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks?" asked Harry, rummaging in his trunk for his socks,

"Good idea, Harry!" said Ron, "Yeah, Fred and George left a couple and I've never had a chance to use them. Oh, take your Invisibility Cloak too, Harry!"

"OK," said Harry, "Hey Hermione, what clothes are you actually taking?"

* * *

"Dissendium!" whispered Harry, tapping the statue of the one-eyed humped witch on the third floor. It silently slid open and Harry, Ron and Neville slid inside.

Approximately half an hour later, the three Gryffindors climbed silently out of the trapdoor in Honeyduke's cellar. They crept up the stairs and out from behind the counter.

"Get some chocolate frogs," Harry told Ron. Neville quickly picked up several packets of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and added them to the ever-growing pile of Magical sweets. Within five minutes, the three boys decided they had more than enough and paid up. It came to four Galleons, six Sickles and three Knuts. Neville could hardly believe how much candy they had just bought.

"Well, they might not have it over in France," remarked Ron later when they got back to the Gryffindor Common room, "And I bet it'll be a long journey. Muggle transport always takes ages!"

"What did you buy?" asked Ginny, awestruck at the amount of food there.

"Hmm," said Harry, "We have chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizbees, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Liquorice Wands, Chocoballs, Ice Mice and Jelly Slugs!"

"Golly!" was all Hermione and Ginny could say.

* * *

Finally, it was half past ten and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville were all ready to leave. They were dressed in their warmest Muggle clothing and had their wands secured safely. Their trunks were all packed and ready to be levitated downstairs. Currently, the Gryffindors were doing a last minute check of their dormitories to make sure they hadn't left anything behind.

"Toothbrush, Ron!" laughed Harry, brandishing the offending object in Ron's face,

"Ooops," said Ron, blushing.

"Come on!" whispered Hermione up the stairs, "We better get going!"

Neville, Ron and Harry whispered "Wingardium Leviosa!" and their trunks glided down the boy's stairs in front of them. They met Ginny and Hermione in the common room. Everyone grinned in excitement. They softly said goodbye to the remaining Gryffindors in the common room and exited through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Have a good time!" she said, to their retreating backs.

* * *

The five Gryffindors arrived in the Great Hall just on a quarter to eleven to find a sulky looking Malfoy and the Professor's McGonagall, Lupin and Dumbledore waiting for them.

"Ah, you have arrived," said Dumbledore, pleasantly, "Well; I will come and see you off. I trust you have everything you need."

Everybody nodded and quietly followed Professor Dumbledore out of Hogwarts and down the green slopes to the gate. They passed by Hagrid's hut on the way. He came out and wished them a good holiday.

"Thanks Hagrid, said Harry, "Come and see us off?"

"Alright," agreed Hagrid.

Waiting at the gates of Hogwarts was an average sixteen- seater minibus with a trailer attached.

"Why do we need a trailer?" asked Neville, in surprise, "Shouldn't we be able to shrink the trunks?"

"It's to keep up appearances," explained Professor McGonagall," We are staying in a Muggle village."

Neville nodded and handed Hagrid his trunk to put in the trailer.

"Here," said Professor Lupin opening up the minibus, "Get in and make yourselves comfortable. No squabbling over seats!"

The six students did as they were told. Malfoy immediately sat in the seat at the back and sat staring at the Gryffindors.

"Look there's enough seats for everyone to have a double," said Hermione, "That way we'll all have plenty of room."

"Good idea," said Harry.

Neville and Ron sat in the two sets of double seats in front of Malfoy and Ginny and Hermione took the two doubles in front of them. That left Harry with the long three seater at the front of the minibus behind the long driver's seat. He sank down onto it gratefully and grinned back at the others. Four people smiled back and one person scowled, crossing his arms.

"Are we ready to go then?" asked Professor McGonagall, climbing into the front passenger seat next to Professor Lupin.

"Yeah," came various replies from the students,

"OK, then. Put your seat belts on. That's the elastically straps attached to the seats. Pull it over your shoulder and down across your lap and secure it in the holster at your side. Everybody sorted? Good," instructed McGonagall.

"Professor Lupin?" said Harry, softly. The greying man turned around to face Harry. "Call me Remus on this trip, Harry," he smiled.

"OK, Remus," Harry said, "You _can _drive can't you?"

Remus chuckled. "Yes, Harry. When Sirius bought his motorbike he had all of us take a driving test when he did. I chose to do a car driving test luckily. You're in safe hands, don't worry."

Harry grinned. "Take us away then!"

Remus started the engine and took off the brake.

"Goodbye Professor Dumbledore! Goodbye Hagrid!" called the occupants of the mini-bus, waving frantically out of the windows at the two men outside.

"Have a good time!" they called back, waving.

Remus put the minibus into gear and slowly they drove off, cheering. They were off to France at last.

* * *

**Notes: OK, here is chapter one of nine chapters. I will churn them out as fast as possible and aim to have this story finished by the beginning of September.**

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	2. France: Here We Come!

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Two**

**France: Here we Come!**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

The five Gryffindors chattered happily on their way down to Dover: laughing, telling jokes and eating some of the enormous supply of sweets they had brought with them. They had all been a bit nervous at the beginning of the journey; unsure about Remus' driving ability. Malfoy and Neville had been startled by the unusual Muggle… _thing _but had grown used to it. Ron and Ginny were used to Muggle vehicles having Arthur Weasley as their father.

It was currently half past twelve at night and they had been travelling for a little over an hour and a half.

"What colour is it?" said Ron, peering forward to Hermione's seat,

"I'm not sure," replied Hermione, "It's too dark to see!"

"Lumos!" said Ron, waving his wand. It immediately lit up.

"Ron! Put that light out! It's dangerous to me as a driver because I think it's another vehicle behind me!" said Remus, hastily,

"OK, sorry sir! Nox!" Ron said. Malfoy snickered behind him. Ron turned around and glared at him. "Shut it Malfoy!"

"_Anyway_," quickly interrupted Ginny, anxious to divert another argument. Harry smiled at her.

"Look's like we're going to have to eat these Bertie Bott's in the dark!" he said, grinning, "Let's make it into a game! See who can eat the most without chickening out!"

Hermione grimaced. "I'll go first then," she said, weakly. She lifted the bean up to her lips and quickly put it in her mouth. She chewed for a second.

"Eww! Grass!"

Various noises of dislike emitted from the other occupants in the minibus.

"OK, my turn," said Harry, bravely. He picked a Bertie Bott out of the packet and shoved it into his mouth. A few seconds later…"Coconut. I _hate _coconut!"

Everybody laughed and the game continued.

Professor McGonagall got chicken. Professor Lupin received a lovely blood flavour one. Harry snorted at this news and he detected a wry smile on Remus' face in the mirror. Ginny got a pepper flavour one. She said it reminded her of when she had to take Pepper-Up Potion in her first year and steam blew out of her ears for ages. Neville took a go and declared it chocolate flavour. Everybody agreed he was very lucky. Ron hesitatingly took a sweet and put it to his lips. "No!" he cried out, "Bogey flavour! What Fred and George said was true! Merlin, I need a drink!" The minibus exploded with laughter.

Harry looked at the back of the minibus. Malfoy was sitting there silently watching the game. "D'ya want a go, Malfoy?" he called,

"No," said Malfoy, abruptly. Harry was just about to have a go at him when he noticed Draco looked white.

"Are you alright, Malfoy?" he asked,

"Yes," Malfoy replied, curtly, "I just don't want to join in your little game because this Muggle vehicle is irritating my stomach!"

"He's car sick," announced Harry, silently laughing. He knew it was unkind but frankly he didn't care.

"Alright then," said Remus, "I'll pull in at the next service station. It's time for a break anyway."

Presently, the minibus drew up in the large service station car park. Since it was one o'clock in the morning, the only other vehicles there were lorries and the occasional car. Remus switched the engine off and turned to face the students, with Professor McGonagall.

"We're having a half an hour break here so we expect you back here at the minibus at half past one _precisely_. We have here five pounds each for you, compliments of Professor Dumbledore to spend either in a service station or on the ferry," said Remus, handing out six five pound notes. "Stick together as a group inside the service station and don't be late back. Understand?"

"Understand," replied the six students. They clambered out and headed for the nearest toilets, where they split up.

Five minutes later, the girls exited their toilet to find only Neville waiting for them.

"Malfoy's being sick," Neville informed them, "And Ron's killing himself laughing." The male toilet door opened and Ron and Harry came out grinning.

"Not so dignified now is he?" smirked Ron.

Professor Lupin came over smiling. "Where's Malfoy?" he asked,

"In there," said Harry, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder, "Chucking up!"

"Oh dear," said Remus, looking faintly worried, "I had better go sort him out then!" He winked at the Gryffindors. "You go along and enjoy yourself. See you in the minibus!"

The five Gryffindors wandered over to the shop. It was brightly lit and full of food, drinks, magazines and random souvenirs.

"Welcome to Muggle sweets," said Harry, quietly.

Ginny giggled. Ron looked worried. "Erm, Harry? What exactly is this?" He was holding the five pound note Remus had given them all.

Harry and Hermione laughed. This was going to be amusing. "This is Muggle money. I'm not sure what the equivalent amount of Wizarding money is. We'll help you when it comes to paying; just look around for now!"

Hermione went to the magazines. She browsed through the teenage magazines. Ginny joined her.

"Are you going to buy one of those?" she asked, curiously looking at the still photo of the latest Muggle pop group.

"Yeah, at home during the holidays I like to keep up with the music chart- you know what's popular and stuff. I'll let you listen to my favourite band when I next get my hands on a CD player. They're really good!" said Hermione, busy flicking through _Sugar_.

"Cool. It's a shame they don't have _Teen Witch Weekly _here," said Ginny,

"Yeah, let's go see what those rowdy boys are up to!" said Hermione, finally choosing her magazine.

Ron, Neville and Harry were over by the drinks. They had decided not to get any food because firstly none of them were hungry and also because they still had a lot of candy left in the minibus. Harry was busy trying to explain to Neville and Ron what Coca Cola was. Ron didn't look impressed. Neville was sceptical about the whole issue.

"I think I'll just have an orange juice," said Ron, "I don't think they'd have pumpkin juice?"

"Nope," said Harry, "Well I'm having a coke. I love it but don't have it often!"

"Rots your teeth though," said Hermione, the dentist's daughter, selecting a still mineral water,

"Ah well," grinned Harry, "Neville what you having?"

"I think I'll try a Fanta Orange," Neville said, courageously,

"Good choice," noted Harry, "Ginny?"

Ginny picked up a coca cola, like Harry. She smiled at him. He returned the smile and quickly jogged over to the sweet section and picked up a couple of king size Mars Bars. "I completely love these but haven't had one for _years_!" he exclaimed, as he rejoined the others at the till.

"Just put your drink down on the counter and give the lady your five pound note," whispered Hermione.

Everybody did as she said and soon they were making their way back to the minibus, laughing at Ron and Neville's reaction. They had jumped violently at the beep made when the cashier had scanned the bar code, earning themselves a strange look from the lady. When Ron received his change and drink back, he spent an entire minute looking at the plastic bottle, searching for any differences. It had taken Hermione quite a while to explain to him that when the cashier had scanned the bottle, nothing had changed. It was simply an electronical thing. Now, Ron, Ginny and Neville were examining the weird shapes that Muggle money came in; marvelling at the circles and heptagons. Soon, Professors McGonagall and Lupin arrived with a slightly better looking Malfoy and they all clambered into the minibus. Professor McGonagall transfigured a bowl and gave it to Malfoy. He looked at her dumbly.

"It's in case you need to be sick again," she said, abruptly, "Oh, and here's a travel sickness potion Madam Pomfrey gave us,"

"Why couldn't you give it me before?" Malfoy complained,

"I didn't know you suffered from travel sickness. Try and get some sleep, it should help," said Professor McGonagall.

"Let's crack on," said Remus, "I suggest you try and get some sleep while it's dark. We have a long day tomorrow, or rather today, so no talking. Our ferry leaves at nine o'clock."

He started the engine and Harry settled back in his seat, ready for a nap. "Wake me up in a couple of hours, Remus," whispered Harry, "I'd like to see the dawn,"

"Will do Harry," replied Remus, concentrating on the road, "Pleasant dreams!"

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and yawned. Outside the sky was beginning to grow lighter from the deep black it had been in since they left the night before. He looked around the minibus. All of the other students were sleeping peacefully still. Harry smirked at Malfoy, who was drooling slightly. Neville was resting his head against the cool window and dreaming with a slight smile on his face. Harry smiled at Ginny, who was curled up in a little ball with her face upturned. She looked so calm and beautiful.

"Remus?" whispered Harry,

"Morning Harry, is anybody else awake yet?" replied Remus,

"No," replied Harry, "Why?"

"I'm stopping at the next service station. I need to stretch my legs. Professor McGonagall's staying here,"

"Oh. Can I come with you?"

"Sure. Is that alright with you Minerva?" asked Remus,

"Of course. I'll send the others along if they wake," replied Professor McGonagall.

Remus pulled into a parking space at the next service station and he and Harry quietly climbed out. They set off to the nearby centre.

"Are you looking forward to the holiday?" Remus asked,

"Yeah. All this because I got into a bad mood and stormed off to fly!" grinned Harry, "What are we actually doing in France?"

"You'll have to wait and see," said Remus, "I'm not telling you before I tell the others even though you _are _my adopted god son!"

Harry smiled, thinking about Sirius' last Will where he had named Remus as Harry's adoptive godfather if anything would happen to him. "I miss Sirius," he said, quietly, "But at least I've got you."

"You must always remember that Harry. I love you like the son that I never had and I promise to always be there for you. Alright?"

"Yeah, thanks Remus," said Harry,

"Good. Well come on then, we better get back to the minibus. Still got a hundred or so miles left to drive and it's nearly six o'clock in the morning!" said Remus,

"Great!" Harry said, sarcastically.

When he and Remus got back to the minibus, he found that Ginny had awoken but the others were still asleep. Ginny was in his seat talking to Professor McGonagall.

"Hey Gin!" greeted Harry, sliding into the seat next to her,

"Hi," said Ginny, blushing slightly, "Morning Professor Lupin!"

"Oh, call me Remus, Ginny. I feel old when I'm called Professor!"

"Hem hem!" said Professor McGonagall, in a remarkable impression of Umbridge. Harry involuntarily shuddered and laughed with the rest.

"Remus Lupin! I am offended!" mock-scolded Professor McGonagall, after the laughter had died down.

Remus cast a tragic look at Harry and Ginny. "I beg your forgiveness m'lady. I had forgotten that you too were a professor; I was so dazzled by your beauty it completely slipped my mind!"

Harry and Ginny laughed once more with Professor McGonagall joining it. "Very well, kind sir. Now get this vehicle moving!"

* * *

"Ginny!" Harry whispered, about half an hour later, "Look at the gorgeous sunrise!"

Ginny looked up from her seat beside Harry. She had remained where she was when Remus began driving once more, so that she had somebody to talk with. However, so far no talking had taken place.

"Wow, it's so pretty!" she gasped, looking at the swirling clouds of pink, yellow and grey,

"Just like you then," said Harry. He inwardly gasped. Where had that come from?

Ginny blushed with a small smile playing at her lips. "Thanks," she managed to whisper,

"You're welcome," Harry replied, also blushing. He was thankful that Ginny hadn't thrown it back in his face. And that Malfoy was still asleep and unable to hear him.

The journey continued in silence as everyone watched the beautiful sunrise. Suddenly, at about seven o'clock, Ron yelled out in his sleep, immediately waking himself and everybody else up.

"No! No spiders! No!"

"Shut _up_ Ron," came Hermione's tired and annoyed voice,

"Sorry," mumbled Ron, his ears red,

"Don't tell me you're afraid of _spiders_!" smirked Malfoy, from the back of the bus,

"Don't tell me you're afraid of _Voldemort_!" retorted Harry, anxious to stick up for his best friend. As everybody except Harry flinched automatically, a curious closed up expression appeared on Malfoy's face and he said no more.

Silence resumed in the minibus; each person thinking their own thoughts. Harry wondered at the expression on Malfoy's face. What did it mean? Suddenly he felt something drop onto his shoulder. He looked down and saw that Ginny had fallen back asleep. He smiled at her peaceful angelic face and decided to follow suit.

* * *

"_Wake up_!" yelled Remus Lupin.

Harry and Ginny jerked awake immediately. Ginny flushed when she saw where she had fallen asleep. She moved away quickly.

"Good. Well we're in Dover and queuing up for the ferry, which is right in front of us!"

The six students leaned forward and gasped with amazement at the size of the ferry they were soon to be getting on.

"It's _enormous_!" said Neville, "How do we get on?"

"We drive on," answered Remus, "You'll see how. We'll be getting on shortly."

"Wow!" marvelled Ron, "Hey I'm hungry and thirsty!"

"I'll give you a packed breakfast the House Elves prepared for you when we get on board," said Professor McGonagall, "And didn't you buy drinks at the service station?"

"Oh yeah!" said Ron, taking his juice out, "Hey Ginny, what's your coke like?"

"It's actually really nice," said Ginny, in surprise, sipping at it,

"Yeah, my Fanta is really nice as well. Do you want a sip, Ron?" asked Neville,

"Alright," said Ron, gingerly taking the plastic bottle and sipping at it. "Wow, you can feel the bubbles inside your mouth! That's tasty! I want a bottle!"

"Well they should sell them on board," said Hermione, quietly amused. Suddenly, Neville belched.

"Oh...Um…sorry!" said Neville in embarrassment, "I don't know why that happened!"

"It's because fizzy drinks like Fanta and Coca Cola contain carbon dioxide which makes them fizzy. It is a gas and all that burping is, is gas being released from your stomach," explained Hermione,

"Hermione! Release the textbook you've swallowed!" said Ron, grinning affectionately.

The professors had been listening with much amusement to this exchange and at this they laughed out loud. Even they could see that there were feelings arising between Ron and Hermione.

Suddenly, Remus started the engine. "We're going on board. I'd close any windows open," he advised.

Everybody, except Hermione, looked puzzled. As they got nearer the ramp leading into the huge open doors of the ferry, the faces of Ron, Ginny, Neville and Draco became slightly scared.

"What's that noise?" shouted Ron, panicking slightly,

"The engines!" shouted back Hermione, covering her ears, "The vehicles are near the engines and they're _huge_!"

Ginny unconsciously shuffled nearer Harry as the minibus left the lovely English sunshine and entered the dark cavern of the ferry.

"You're alright Ginny!" Harry said loudly, placing a hand on her shoulder soothingly.

"Wait a minute! The vehicle comes on the ferry with us?" said Draco, sounding very worried, "Won't it sink?"

"No, Draco!" said Lupin, "It won't sink, don't worry. Everyone is safe!"

"I wasn't worried!" Malfoy defended himself.

Harry snorted as the minibus came to a standstill.

"OK then. Everybody take what they'll want on board the ferry as you won't be allowed back down here until we reach France. Then get out the minibus!" Professor Lupin ordered.

Everybody did as they told and scrambled out. Ginny walked around nervously. "It's so weird to think I'm literally walking on water!"

"Don't say that!" shivered Neville, as the students followed their professors up a few flight of stairs to the passenger part of the ferry. "Please, don't say that!"

* * *

"Why isn't there any sound?" asked Ron, scratching his head,

"I'm not sure," Harry said, "Maybe they think it's too noisy on board?"

"It's literally silent!" exclaimed Ginny, looking around the near empty ferry lounge,

"Well, maybe it's noisier later on in the day," offered Neville, reading the words that appeared on the television screen that was in front of them, attached to the ceiling.

The Pure-Bloods had been most intrigued at this new Muggle contraption that showed moving pictures but no sound. At the moment, a movie of Mighty Joe Young was playing and they were all watching it with varying degrees of interest.

"I hate this movie," said Hermione, "I've seen it a million times,"

"A _million _times?" exclaimed Neville, in awe,

"Well, no," said Hermione, blushing slightly, "But a lot of times!"

Harry smirked. He had also seen this film when it was on television one summer and the Dursley's were out shopping. It was one of the only films he had ever watched.

Hermione giggled slightly and winked at Harry. "I think my favourite film of all time has to be Titanic!"

Harry smiled back. Even though he hadn't seen the film, he had learnt about the infamous disaster at primary school.

"What's Titanic?" asked Ron, a trifle nervously,

"It's a film based on a real life story where a ship, just like this one only bigger…"

"_Bigger_?" whimpered Ron, "You mean there are bigger ships than this one?"

"Yes Ron. This is actually one of the smallest ferries because it only has a short journey. Anyway, as I was saying, this ship hit an iceberg and sank," Hermione said, without emotion, "It's really famous. Hundreds of people died when it happened years ago."

"A ship sank?" said Ginny, looking around fearfully, "Erm…this ship won't sink will it?"

"Well you never know…" Hermione said, mischievously.

The Pure-bloods turned pale.

"I'd like to go up on deck," said Harry, looking out of the window at the calm sea, "Come with me,"

Everybody got up and followed Harry to a door leading out of the lounge. He pushed open the door and was immediately swept backwards into the others.

"Watch it Potter!" drawled Malfoy.

Harry ignored him and forcefully walked forwards and up the stairs. There was a strong wind blowing down the stairs from the open doorway at the top. It was also extremely noisy. When they reached the top, they all ran over to the side and looked down at the grey thrashing water.

"_Wow_!" cried Ginny, Ron and Neville,

"We're so far up!" Ron then said,

"Yeah, it's really weird-looking," Ginny said, mesmerised by the water. She put a hand to her stomach and went even paler. "Eww, I think I'll go ask Professor McGonagall for a travel sickness potion!" She quickly left, closely followed by Draco who was also feeling a little queasy.

Meanwhile Hermione had gone to the corner of the viewing platform and stood with a foot on the bottom bar of each railing. She spread her arms out and said in a high pitched voice. "Oh Jack! I'm flying!"

Harry laughed while Ron and Neville looked confused.

"Who's Jack?" asked Neville, looking around.

Hermione laughed and turned around. "He's the main character in the film Titanic and there's a really famous scene where Jack and this rich girl called Rose are standing at the bow of the ship and Rose says 'I'm flying' to Jack. That's what I just imitated. You know we really should watch the movie at some point!"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "Hey I'm going down again. See you in a bit. Don't forget about the duty-free Miss Granger!"

"Don't make sexist comments Mr Potter," grinned Hermione, "Just because I'm female, doesn't mean I'm going to rush to the duty-free shop! On the other hand, I _will_ be going along in a minute! See you later!"

Harry climbed back down the windy stairs and went over to where the two Professors were. Remus put his finger to his lips as Harry got closer. Ginny, Malfoy and Professor McGonagall were all fast asleep. He grinned. "I really wish I had a camera now," he whispered, "This is perfect blackmail material!"

Remus smirked. "I'm pretty sure we'll see quite a lot of them being asleep over the next week. I'll get you a camera once we're in France if you like. When we get back to Hogwarts, we'll make them into magical photos,"

"Cool," breathed Harry, "Thanks. Hey how long until we reach France?"

"About half an hour. It's a really short crossing. Now I must remember to drive on the opposite side of the road!" chuckled Remus.

Harry smiled and looked up as Hermione, Ron and Neville ventured over. "We're going to look at the duty free shop. Any takers?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah I'll come," Harry said, "Be back soon Remus. We won't be long!"

* * *

The French countryside flashed past the windows of the minibus as Remus expertly manoeuvred it along the French winding roads. Harry followed it through his drowsy eyes and rested his tired head against the back of the seat. They had arrived in France at quarter past eleven local time and it was now getting on for three. Everybody was exhausted and anxious to reach the gite but there was one more stop to make first.

"Out you get," Remus announced, ten minutes later, "We're very nearly at the gite but we need to buy supplies first!"

Moaning, the six Hogwarts students climbed out of the minibus and stood blinking in the bright sunshine.

"It's so _hot_!" groaned Ron, "I'm melting!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at Professor Lupin grinning. "What do we need?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall is our catering manager on this trip," Remus said, "But you'll all be taking it in turns to help prepare the meals."

"What!" exploded Malfoy, "I don't know how to cook! That's what House Elves are for!"

"Draco, be quiet," said Professor McGonagall, "Right then people, we need baguettes, ham, butter, crisps, potatoes…"

Harry tuned out as they followed the teachers into the supermarket. He had a feeling this would take a _long _time.

* * *

Surprisingly, they were on their way again in just over half an hour's time. About seven bags of shopping were neatly stacked at the back of the minibus in the empty seats next to Draco. He was staring moodily at the shopping, lost in thought. Harry wondered what he was thinking about.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, after only getting lost twice, the minibus arrived at the small French village they were going to call home for the next week. They drew up outside a large building with a grand front door. A large French woman came out of the door and started greeting them in quick, loud French.

"Ah bonjour Monsieur Lupin!" she cried, heartily,

"Bonjour Madame," replied Remus, smoothly. He turned to the students in the minibus. "You stay in here while I sort out the papers and things!"

Ten minutes later, he was back with a key in his hand. "Everybody take their trunk out of the trailer and follow me!"

They clambered out and hoisted their trunks out of the trailer. Professor Lupin had put a lightening charm on them before they left Hogwarts. Harry started to head towards the grand front door when Remus called him back.

"That's the door to the local community centre. Our lodgings are the top two floors. We enter them from the back door. This way!"

The students gazed up at the three storey stone building as they marched over the gravel driveway and through a gate to a medium sized garden. The grass was raised above the gravel and could be reached via some steps. There was a barbeque in one corner and a black dustbin by the doorway to the gite. Remus unlocked the door and led the way up the narrow winding stairs to the floor above.

Hermione sniffed. "It smells like an old house turned into a museum that you can visit. I quite like it!"

Ron laughed. "Only you would say that Hermione!"

The stairs led to a room with doors leading off it and another staircase behind them.

"OK, dump your stuff here and explore!" Remus said.

The Gryffindors immediately did as he said followed by a more grudging Malfoy. They explored the first floor first. There was a large dining room with a big table and enough seats for all of them. Along one of the walls were two comfortable looking sofas. Attached to this room was a small kitchen with a large fridge and freezer, a sink, a cooker and a working surface. Ginny heaved open one of the kitchen windows and looked out.

"It overlooks the front courtyard," she announced, "I can see the minibus,"

"Cool," Ron said, anxious to explore more.

They exited the kitchen via another door and found themselves back in the original room with the stairs. There were two more doors to look through. One of them led to a bedroom with a double bed in.

"I want that room!" announced Ron, grinning cheekily

"No, that's for one of us teachers," said Professor McGonagall, overhearing Ron from where she was unpacking the shopping in the kitchen.

"Oh!" said Ron, in disappointment.

The third door on this floor was a bathroom. There was a toilet, shower and various laundry equipment. It wasn't very interesting so they went up the next flight of stairs.

They emerged on a large, dark landing with five doors leading off them. Three of the doors led to bedrooms in varying sizes. Another door led to a toilet and the final door led to another bathroom; this time with a bath and shower head. The students all agreed the gite to be most satisfactory.

Remus then came up the stairs. He smiled at the excited students.

"Right, sleeping arrangements," he said, cheerfully, "There are four bedrooms. I don't want _any _complaining, alright?"

Everybody nodded so he continued. "The bedroom on the floor below will be Professor McGonagall's. This small bedroom here…" Remus gestured to a bedroom next to the toilet. "Will be mine. Ginny and Hermione will be sharing the room next to mine. You four boys will be sharing the largest bedroom."

His final remark caused a loud outburst from the boys.

"I'm not sleeping in the same room as Malfoy!" Ron shouted,

"I'm not sharing with half bloods and poor people!" yelled Malfoy,

"He'll curse us in our sleep!" shouted Harry.

Only Neville remained silent. His eyes were full of fear.

"Shut up!" yelled Remus, "I said there will be no complaining!"

Everybody fell silent and looked at the angry Professor. "Girls, go and get your trunks and some bedding from Professor McGonagall and sort out your room. Boys come with me!"

He walked into the boy's room and looked around. There were four beds scattered around and two wardrobes. Remus turned to the boys.

"I don't want any complaints. It's only for one week and maybe you'll learn to get along. Right choose your beds- no fighting- and its two people to a wardrobe. Get unpacked!" he said and stomped out.

Harry turned to the others. Draco was looking annoyed. Ron looked mutinous while Neville looked fearful. He sighed. "Well, it looks like we're sharing. Let's try and get along or we'll all be miserable!"

Ron and Malfoy snorted and went to get their trunks. Harry and Neville looked at one another and followed them.

* * *

Three hours later, everybody was unpacked and sitting around the table in the dining room having a meeting. They had just had their tea, which was cooked by Professor McGonagall and Hermione.

"To make the most out of this week, we are going to have to follow some rules. Firstly, no magic is to be used outside of the gite unless it is an absolute emergency. Alright?" asked Remus,

Everybody nodded and Professor McGonagall took over. "There is a list of chores to be done by everybody on the fridge. On each day, you are assigned a specific chore: whether it is cooking, washing up, taking the rubbish out or laying the table. It must be done and I don't want to hear any complaints. I will help you if necessary. For tonight, Hermione was on cooking and Neville was on laying the table. You have already done your chore for today. Harry, you are on washing up; Ginny, you're doing the drying up and Draco, you're on clearing the table. Ron, you're off chores today as there isn't any rubbish."

Ron cheered and then said: "So, where are we going?"

"Ah, well that's going to be a surprise. Every morning after breakfast, we'll tell you where we're going. Oh, and everybody must be sitting here at half past eight every morning unless we say otherwise, ready to go out! Is everybody clear?"

Everybody nodded and got up to begin their chores. Ron, Hermione and Neville went to see what their chore schedule was like and then helped the other three students in their chores. Meanwhile, Professors Lupin and McGonagall sat down with a mug of tea each and watched the workers. Harry noticed this as he was washing up and grinned. It was a holiday for them as well.

* * *

"Merlin Weasley!" sneered Draco, "I know your family all sleeps in the same room but personally I do like a bit of privacy while I'm changing!"

Ron flushed and looked angry at the same time. "Will you stop insulting my family?" he said, exasperated,

"It's so much fun to do so," Malfoy said, "Nice pyjamas by the way!"

Ron flushed even more deeply and tugged at his maroon pyjama pants. He jumped into his bed quickly.

Malfoy smirked as he got into his bed on the other side of the room. Presently, Neville and Harry came in from brushing their teeth and snuggled down too.

Professor Lupin came in and smiled to see all the boys in bed. "Goodnight boys. Please don't talk and I will see you in the morning!"

He switched out the light as the Gryffindor boys murmured "Night Remus."

Harry turned on his side and stared at the darkness. He couldn't believe that here he was in France and on a holiday with two of his favourite professors and four of his closest friends. He wished Malfoy wasn't there but he was sure he'd find a way around that little problem. The last think Harry Potter saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was a certain red haired Weasley, currently in a bedroom across the hall.

* * *

**Notes: This story is AU and takes place in the current day- not in the canon years. So don't flame me saying Euros weren't around in 1997 because I know already!**

**Thanks to Remusluver, LunaLovegood8, the cheat 928, hypa4evr and luckycharms445 for reviewing chapter one. I'm a little disappointed that I've had 65 hits on this story but only five reviews but that's life. **

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	3. Sunday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Three**

**Sunday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

Harry rolled over and opened his eyes blearily. His hand went automatically to the bedside table where he always kept his glasses. There was nothing there; in fact there wasn't even a bedside table! Harry sat up quickly and strained his eyes, looking around in the dim sunshine that was filtering through the thin curtains. Oh! He was in France in a little gite and his glasses were safely on top of his trunk. He put them on and immediately the room came into focus.

Malfoy wasn't in his bed but Neville and Ron were; still fast asleep. Ron rolled over in his sleep muttering, "Hermione, _please_!" Harry shook his head in amusement and his gaze landed on the big wooden clock on one of the walls. It was half past nine. He gave a shout.

"Ron! _Ron! _Neville! Get up! We were meant to be up and ready to go out an hour ago!"

The two boys instantly shot up and stared at Harry in alarm. There were footsteps coming up the stairs and then Ginny and Hermione entered the room.

"_Finally_! You're awake!" said Hermione, "We've all been up ages!"

"Hermione! Get out! I'm in my pyjamas!" shouted Ron, enraged,

"So?" Ginny said, "It's not like she's never seen them before." Her gaze settled on Harry, who was sitting on top of the duvet. They both blushed.

"Why didn't you come and wake us up?" asked Harry, "We were meant to be out an hour ago, weren't we?"

"Well, yeah," Ginny said, "But Remus decided to have a slack day today so he let you sleep in,"

The boys heaved a sigh of relief and slowly began getting out of bed.

"We'll leave you to get dressed then," Hermione said, "Breakfast's going to be cleared away in exactly half an hour, Professor McGonagall said so."

The boys nodded as the girls left and began to get ready for the day.

* * *

An hour and a half later, everybody was ready and all chores were done. The students were sitting around the table, having a briefing session from the two Professors.

"Now that we're all ready," said Professor McGonagall, with a tiny frown at the boys, "it's time to tell you what we're doing today."

Harry, Neville and Ron blushed and tried to look innocent. Malfoy, Ginny and Hermione sniggered.

Remus continued. "We've decided to have a lazy day today so we're not really going out anywhere. We need to visit the local hypermarket to buy more supplies but most of the day, we're spending here, getting used to the Muggle way of life. Firstly, we've prepared a sort of scavenger hunt for you to do in the local village."

Professor McGonagall handed out six sheets of paper and the students looked at them curiously. "You'll be in two teams and the first to find all twenty items and answer the questions about them is the winner. Is everybody clear?"

Everybody agreed and got up to put on their shoes and gather outside. They split into two teams: Harry, Ginny and Neville were on one team and Draco, Hermione and Ron were on the other. "OK then teams, lunch will be ready at one o'clock so that is your deadline when you're expected to be back. On your marks, get set, go!"

Harry's team walked slowly into the centre of the courtyard where the minibus was parked and gathered into a small circle. They looked at the papers.

"Item one: Find a Muggle public telephone," read Ginny, "What's a telephone?"

Harry didn't answer and looked around. He spotted a glass box to the left of the community centre front door. "Over here!" he said, jogging over. As he got closer he discovered that it was a public telephone. "What's the question?"

Neville looked at his sheet. "What colour is the telephone receiver?"

"Blue," Harry reported. Ginny wrote the answer down in the space provided and looked at the next question. "Item two: find a post box. What time will the post be next collected?"

"What?" Neville exclaimed.

Harry looked thoughtful. "Let's walk through the village and have a look."

The others agreed and they wandered slowly, searching and chatting. They caught sight of the other team. Hermione and Ron were walking ahead and Malfoy was trailing them, his head down.

Ginny giggled. "It's so obvious Ron and Hermione fancy one another!"

"Yeah," replied Harry, "We really ought to do something to make it happen while we're so close to the city of looooove!"

Neville smiled and turned his head. He knew of another couple that made it blatantly obvious to everybody except each other that they madly in love with one another. He hoped Harry and Ginny would get together soon because they both deserved happiness.

* * *

"Are we nearly done yet?" moaned Ronald Weasley,

"Yes, we're on item seventeen and we have fifteen minutes left," said Hermione, clearly irritated,

"What's the question?" Ron asked,

"Item seventeen: find 4 rue de pomme. What colour is the front door?" recited Hermione, "That means we're looking for…"

"Number four of apple road," said Malfoy, "It's over here."

Hermione looked at the direction in which Draco was pointing and then at Malfoy. "You're right. Thanks,"

"You needn't sound so surprised," said Malfoy, "And the colour of the front door is red,"

"Right, thank you," said Hermione, jotting it down, "So, you know French then?"

"All _rich_ pure blood children are taught it from an early age," responded Draco,

"Yeah, along with the Dark Arts and how to kiss You-Know-Who's ass," retorted Ron, bitterly.

Draco merely looked at him and blinked. "Anyway Granger, what's the next question?"

"Item eighteen…" began Hermione, before being interrupted by Ron,

"Oh! So you finally decided to help us?" he roared.

Malfoy's cheeks went pink and his grey eyes iced over. "Yeah because you're no bloody help at the minute! Constantly moaning about how long it's going to be before lunch! All you think about is your stomach!"

"Oh yeah?" yelled back Ron, "What? Do you fancy Hermione or something?"

"No, that's your job!" screamed Draco, "Merlin! It's _so _obvious that you fancy her! Why don't you just ask her out or something so the rest of us don't have to take this! You make me sick!"

The loud argument had brought the other team running and they watched silently as Ron flushed violently and Hermione gasped and turned away. Ginny went and hugged her comfortingly.

Harry looked at Malfoy silently. He was still pink and looked terrifying; so great was his anger. He was breathing rather heavily and his fists were clenched. Seeing his state, Harry took control.

"OK, guys. Well it's nearly time for lunch so let's get back to the gite."

Ginny and Neville both nodded at him and they began to propel Hermione and Ron, respectively, along the empty road to the gite. Harry turned to go and then noticed Draco wasn't following.

"Malfoy, are you coming? We're not allowed to be by ourselves," he called,

"Why do you care?" Malfoy said, walking slowly towards him,

"'Cause this is a new experience for all of us and we need to watch out for one another," replied Harry,

"Potter, have you forgotten? We are enemies!" Draco said,

"Yeah and we'll still be enemies when we return to Hogwarts. I'm just thinking this week, we need to try and get on so everybody can have a good time," Harry replied.

Draco snorted.

"Come on," wheedled Harry, "You don't want a horrible holiday because you don't get on with us do you? I promise that the minute we get back to Hogwarts we'll be enemies again. Even now, we don't need to be bosom buddies…we just need to respect one another like for instance don't call us any names. Deal?"

Draco considered. "I'll think about it," he decided, "I still don't like any of you but I can see where you're coming from. If I decide to go along with it, you can tell Weasel…I mean Weasley and the others,"

"Sure," replied Harry, "Now come on, we'll be late for lunch and if I know Ron half the food will have gone!"

* * *

"Be back at the minibus in exactly one hour," instructed Professor McGonagall, "And stay in groups. Have fun!"

The six Hogwarts students meandered over to the hypermarket entrance while the two professors went to get a trolley.

"It's so big!" sad Neville, gazing around, "I've never seen a shop this big before. Even that supermarket wasn't this big!"

"Everything is meant to be cheap as well," Hermione said, "Adult Muggles come on day-trips to these hypermarkets and stock up on alcohol to take home. Unfortunately, we aren't old enough to purchase alcohol,"

"We could use an aging potion like Fred and George did," Ron said to his shoes, deliberately not looking at Hermione. Harry sighed. Lunch had been very difficult. After Malfoy's outburst, the two Gryffindors had retreated into their shells in front of one another. They had been extremely embarrassed. However, Harry thought there was a chance something might happen within the next few days. Ginny and Harry had discussed the issue quietly in the minibus on the way to the hypermarket.

"Hermione! Come over to the perfume section with me. I'd like some new perfume!" requested Ginny. She winked at Harry as the girls left.

"Chocolate!" was all Ron said, "Find chocolate!"

The four boys wandered slowly down the aisles of the hypermarket and browsed. They ignored most of the products as they were simply household food but they did find some interesting things.

"_What _are these?" asked Ron, an incredulous look on his face, "They look like snails but Muggles wouldn't be stupid enough to eat snails… would they?"

Harry laughed. "Yeah Ron, Muggles do eat snails and frogs legs. I've never tried either of them and I hope I don't have to!"

"Eww!" said Ron, "Muggles are strange!"

The four boys laughed and continued on their way.

"Neville," whispered Harry, in an undertone, "Can you occupy Malfoy for a bit? I want to talk to Ron in private and he won't open up if Malfoy's around!"

"Sure," said Neville, "I'll try." He moved down the aisle a bit and picked up a packet of brightly coloured sweets. "Err...Draco?" he called, "Can you come and translate this French for me? I don't know any and my Great Uncle Algie is allergic to certain food colourings,"

"Err…yeah sure…Neville," replied Malfoy, hesitantly.

Harry smiled in approval and moved forwards to stand next to Ron. "You buying presents for your family?" he asked,

"Yeah, I thought the twins might like some of these French sweets," Ron answered, "And I was thinking maybe all of us should buy some sherbet lemons for Dumbledore?"

"Yeah," agreed Harry, "Hey Ron, I wanted to talk to you about…well, about Hermione."

Ron turned to look at him; his face glowing crimson. "What…what about Hermione?" he croaked,

"Well, you really like her don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" said Ron, with a weak smile.

Harry decided to be blunt. "Yeah, so obvious that Malfoy's picked up on it and I'm pretty certain that Remus knows about it!"

Ron swallowed audibly. "Oh no!" he moaned, "What am I going to do? I can't even look her in the face anymore after what Malfoy said!"

"Ron, I'm pretty certain that Hermione likes you too!" said Harry, forcefully,

"R…really?" asked Ron, with a blissful expression,

"Yes," confirmed Harry, "So if I were you I'd ask her out and see what she says!"

"I can't!" Ron said in alarm,

"Yes you can!" replied Harry, "And there's no better time than this week while we're in France!"

"O…ok Harry," stuttered Ron, "I'll see."

Harry smiled; satisfied he appeared to have got through with Ron. Ron smiled too as a wicked thought appeared in his mind.

"And while we're on this topic, I'd look at _your _own feelings about my little sister," grinned Ron, "I give you full permission to date her!"

"Ron!" said Harry, in embarrassment, "There's nothing going on between me and Ginny!"

"Whatever, mate, whatever!" said Ron, waving his hand, "Now, can we go and find some more of that drink we had on the ferry over…coke was it?"

* * *

The eight students met up again about twenty minutes later. They all had purchased something; whether it was sweets, chocolate, perfume, gifts or in Ron's case five big bottles of coca cola.

"I take it Ron likes coca cola," said Remus, his eyes twinkling, "we bought some as well for meal times so you can save yours for when we return home!"

They loaded the many bags of shopping onto the minibus and drove back to the gite. Harry and Ginny sat next to one another again and discussed their progress on getting Ron and Hermione together. When they had seen one another again, they had both blushed for unknown reasons.

"Did you talk to Hermione?" whispered Harry,

"Yeah, she does fancy him and wants to go out with him. She'll also stop nagging him as much as she possibly can! What about Ron?" replied Ginny,

"Success," grinned Harry, "With any luck, he'll ask her out within the next few days!"

"Excellent!" said Ginny, "I love all this romance!"

Harry looked at her closely. He had lied to Ron. He fancied Ginny a lot but believed that she no longer fancied him. He kicked himself daily for not realising his feelings earlier.

When they arrived back at the gite, they all quickly put their shopping away and congregated in the dining room.

"Right guys, this is a football," Remus said, brandishing a white round ball, "Muggles play with them. Does anybody know the rules?"

"I do," said Harry and Hermione, together,

"Good!" said Remus, "Well I'm sure all noticed the playing field in this village this morning on the scavenger hunt. You have two hours before it's time to cook the dinner so off you go!"

The six students ran down the stairs and along the road to the well worn grass football pitch. There was nobody there. Hermione commented on this.

"Yeah, I've noticed this village is deserted," said Ron, "Now, somebody explain how to play this football thing,"

"Well Ron," began Harry, "You know that poster in our dormitory that Dean has?"

"The one that doesn't move and has a load of men running around kicking a ball?" said Ron,

"Yes, well that's football," grinned Harry. Everybody laughed at Ron's flabbergasted face.

Hermione went on to explain the basic rules of football and they divided into the same teams as they were in that morning. Harry placed the ball in the middle of the pitch and the game began.

Ginny kicked the ball to Harry, who dribbled it up the field to the opposing goal and scored. Ginny and Neville cheered as Hermione kicked the ball to Ron.

"Over here Weasley!" yelled Draco. Ron looked up, aimed and kicked the ball towards Draco, who stopped it, swung around and kicked it straight past Neville's outstretched legs into the corner of the goal.

"Hoaray! Go Malfoy!" yelled Hermione and Ron, dancing around in glee.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Harry passed the ball to Ginny who was waiting near the goal and she neatly scored a goal.

The game continued: fast and furious.

Half an hour later, the players were beginning to tire.

"Next goal is the end," announced Harry and everybody agreed.

Neville ran with the ball towards Ron who was guarding his goal. He swung out and tackled Neville. He then passed the ball to Hermione who dribbled it towards Malfoy. Ginny intercepted the ball and kicked it back to Neville. Ron neatly tackled Neville again and set the ball towards Malfoy. Ginny and Harry ran out to seize the ball and crashed into one another. They fell to the floor amid a gale of laughter.

"Sorry Ginny!" gasped an embarrassed Harry, still lying on top of Ginny,

"S'ok Potter," Ginny replied with a cheeky smile, "You can get off me now!"

Harry gasped again and scrambled off. He searched for the ball and watched as Hermione sent it into their empty goal.

"No!" he yelled,

"Goal!" shouted Hermione, Draco and Ron, "We win!"

"Not fair!" yelled back the loosing team.

They began to argue in high spirits and eventually all flopped on the ground worn out.

"That was good," said Ron, contentedly, "Not as good as Quidditch but still good,"

"Yeah, nothing can beat Quidditch," agreed Malfoy. Ron looked over at him and appeared to make a decision,

"Yes, I agree with you Malfoy. Man, I could _kill _for a game of Quidditch!" said Ron,

"Maybe we'll be able to have a game at Beauxbatons," suggested Hermione, with excitement in her voice.

The boys grunted and Ginny rolled over onto her stomach. "I'm going to sunbathe," she announced, "I feel too lazy to do anything else!"

Harry chuckled. "Lazy bones!" he teased.

The six students lay there in contented silence until a noise made them look up. A small boy and girl were making their way across the grass towards them.

"Bonjour," said the little boy, "Comment vous appelez- vous?"

"Bonjour," replied Draco, "Je m'appelle Draco. Je suis de nationalité britannique. Et toi?''

"Vous parlez François!" gasped the little girl, "Je m'appelle Amandine,''

'' Je m'appelle Gaspard,'' said the little boy, "Vous en vacance?"

"Oui pour une semaine avec le professeurs. Enchante !'' said Draco, in smooth French.

Draco and the French children conversed for a little while longer until they ran off.

"They had to go in for tea," explained Draco. The others nodded and then got up in order to return to the gite to prepare their evening meal.

* * *

"Neville, watch out! The pan's boiling over!" yelled Harry, from where he was taking cutlery out of the drawer.

Neville hurriedly looked up and look the lid of the saucepan just in time. "Thanks Harry. I've had some practice at cooking but I'm not very good. It's like with potions!"

"Oh potions," Ron said, "I bet the only reason you're not good at them is because of Snape constantly breathing down your neck! Honestly, it's not really a surprise that his NEWT class is virtually empty. He's a horrible man!"

"I saw that you're not in Professor Snape's NEWT class," drawled Draco, "I'd watch who you were insulting around me. Professor Snape is my god-father."

There was silence in the kitchen for a while during which Remus walked in. Ron and Malfoy stalked out separately and Remus looked curiously at Harry.

"Ron and Malfoy were having a little disagreement," Harry said, walking over to the dining room and beginning to lay the table.

"Oh," replied Remus, brushing a hand through his greying hair.

"I talked to Malfoy earlier and I think he's agreed to cool down on the name calling and try to get along with us for this week," said Harry.

Remus smiled. "Good work. Otherwise everyone will be having a difficult time this week,"

"That's what I said," continued Harry, "Right, I'm going to prepare my wizard's chess men. We're having a tournament after dinner. It's not really fair though. Ron's fantastic. I'm not sure I've ever beaten him!"

Remus and Neville laughed as Harry bounded up the stairs.

"So, Neville, have you noticed any difference in Draco today?" Remus asked, helping to pour the pasta into the boiling water,

"Oh yeah," replied Neville, "Harry wanted to talk to Ron in private so I asked Malfoy to translate some French for me and he was really friendly and helpful. I guess when he's not around his Slytherin cronies, he's very different!"

"I agree. What was Harry talking to Ron about, may I ask?" asked Lupin, curiously, a twinkle in his eye that would rival Dumbledore's.

Neville looked at Remus and grinned. "Just about the incident earlier today," he replied, "Can you tell everyone dinner will be ready in ten minutes?"

* * *

As soon as dinner had been eaten and chores had been done, the tournament began. Four chess boards lay on the table and players sat down facing their opponent. On Professor McGonagall's whistle, the games began. The chess games would continue until either checkmate or half past ten.

An hour later, Hermione had lost to Neville and Draco had beat Ginny. The two couples left were cheered on.

"Come on Professor McGonagall! Do it for the girls!" said Hermione, "You're our only hope now!"

"Come on Ron! You can beat him!" cheered Ginny. Harry looked at her in mock outrage. "What about me?" he grumbled. She smiled cheekily back and laughed as one of Ron's pieces knocked Harry's castle out.

By ten o'clock, Professor McGonagall had checkmated Remus' king amidst loud cheering from the girls. Remus hid his face in his hands in shame, as the boys groaned.

Harry and Ron were still battling furiously but it was obvious Harry was coming off worse. Less than five moves later, Ron yelled "Checkmate!" and was declared the winner.

"OK," said Remus, "Semi finals tomorrow. Ron versus Neville and Draco versus Professor McGonagall, is that fair?"

"Yes," said the four winners and it was all settled.

"Time for bed, then," Professor McGonagall announced, "We have a busy day tomorrow,"

"Where are we going?" asked several voices.

Remus grinned. "I'm not telling but I think you'll like it. Now go to bed. I'll be up in fifteen minutes and I expect you all to be in bed!"

The six students scuttled upstairs and began brushing their teeth and getting into their night clothes. They were all talking very loudly and laughing.

The girls were already in bed by the time the boys were ready so Harry went into their room to say goodnight. It was very similar to the boy's room but about half the size with two beds and a wardrobe. It looked pretty snug Harry thought to himself.

"Ladies," he said, with a bow, "I hope you sleep well and have pleasant dreams. I bid thee goodnight."

Ginny giggled. "I thank you, kind sir and wish you pleasant dreams also."

Hermione joined in. "I too bid thee goodnight and a wonderful sleep. We shall both see you bright and early in the morn!"

Harry acknowledged his head and left, wishing he could give Ginny a goodnight kiss. Ron came out of the bathroom at that minute and looked over into the girl's bedroom. "Goodnight Ginny! Night Hermione!" he yelled, before following Harry into their room.

"Honestly," tutted Hermione, from their room. She raised her voice. "Night Ron!"

Ginny giggled. She snuggled down in her bed as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway.

"Goodnight ladies," she said, in her Scottish accent, "I'll put a charm on your clock that will awaken you at half past seven." She did as she said and soon after, the girls heard her walking back down the stairs.

Ginny sighed and rolled over. "It's been a good day," she remarked,

"Yeah, maybe Ron might ask me out now!" Hermione said into the darkness. She heard Ginny sigh again. "You want Harry don't you?"

"Do you reckon he'll _ever _like me?" she asked,

"Of course," replied Hermione, "That was some pretty heavy flirting that you were doing earlier!"

"What?" said Ginny, "I haven't been flirting with Harry!"

"Whatever you say girl," said Hermione, "Well, I'm tired. See you in the morning!"

"Yeah, night," replied Ginny. She was thinking hard. _Harry couldn't like me! Could he?_

* * *

**Translation of the French conversation between Draco and the children:**

"Hello," said the little boy, "What's your name?"

"Hello," replied Draco, "My name is Draco. I am British. What about you?''

"You speak French!" gasped the little girl, "My name is Amanda,''

"My name is Jasper,'' said the little boy, "Are you on holiday?"

"Yes, for a week with our teachers. Pleased to meet you!'' said Draco, in smooth French.

**Thanks to Remusluver, Liljean15690, notyouraverageblond, starvingartist, EmeraldHAzel, swimchick1614 and Curg for reviewing chapter two. Once again, I'm grateful for those seven reviewers who could be bothered to review this story that I spend a lot of time on. **

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	4. Monday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Four**

**Monday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

"Pass the butter," said Harry,

"Why?" asked an irritable Ron.

Hermione sighed and pushed the tub of butter across the table to Harry, who gratefully took it and spread some on his croissant.

"I see somebody didn't get enough sleep last night," said Ginny, with a grin, "What _were _you boys doing?"

"Just talking," replied Neville, munching on his cornflakes, "and then we had a pillow fight unless Remus came in and told us to shut up."

The girls giggled. "We just went straight to sleep," said Hermione, "Well I need to go and dry my hair. Don't forget we're leaving in twenty minutes." She left the room and Draco came in, stretching as he walked.

"Morning," he yawned, "What's for breakfast?"

"The usual," replied Harry, brushing croissant crumbs off his sweater,

"Oh. I think I'll just have a coffee," Malfoy said and went and poured himself one.

"Isn't coffee a Muggle drink?" asked Ron.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah but I still drink it!"

"I'm going to get ready," said Harry, standing up, "Coming Ron?"

"Yeah," replied Ron, following Harry out of the room.

Once they were upstairs in the boy's room, Harry turned to Ron.

"Can't you give Malfoy a break? He's going against what he normally does in order to let us have a nice holiday but you keep trying to aggravate him!"

Ron's ears glowed red. "He's belittled my family for years Harry! You can't just expect me to forgive him in one fell swoop can you?" he yelled,

"I'm not expecting you to forgive him! Just try and get along with him for this week or you'll ruin the holiday for everyone! We've agreed that when we return to Hogwarts, we'll go back to being enemies!" Harry said.

At that moment the door creaked open and Malfoy stuck his head in.

"Can I come in? I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked, gruffly,

"No," said Ron, shortly, "I'm going to find Neville. Leave you two to be best buddies." He pushed past Malfoy and stomped out.

Draco raised his eyebrows at Harry.

"He's finding it hard to accept you," Harry said, "I'll try and get him to sort it out,"

"Oh," replied Malfoy, "Well, if he doesn't keep his end of the bargain, I won't keep mine!" He bent down, retrieved his bag from under his bed and stalked out.

Harry sat down with his head in his hands. _Why can't Ron just try to get along with Malfoy? Malfoy's doing his bit and everybody else seems to accept him, it's just Ron. Well, he better shake himself up otherwise he's going to make this trip unbearable. _

* * *

After everybody had got ready, Remus had announced that they were going to Paris for the day. At this Ginny and Harry had smirked at one another, each hoping there would be some romantic interaction between Hermione and Ron. Presently, they were sitting in the minibus on the hour or so trip to Paris, watching fat rain droplets fall down the windows.

"Do you reckon it will storm?" asked Neville, breaking the silence in the minibus,

"Oh I hope so!" squealed Ginny, "I love storms!"

Remus spoke up from the driving seat. "Actually I hope it stops raining and doesn't storm because we'll have a pretty miserable time in Paris otherwise."

As luck would have it, the rain had cleared up by the time they drove into Paris and a weak sun was battling out from behind the grey clouds. Remus parked in a large car park and went to get a ticket while the rest of the group got out of the vehicle and looked around.

A dirty looking river was on their right and towering high above them on their right was the;

"Oooh! It's the Eiffel Tower!" squealed Hermione, bouncing up and down, "Isn't it great?"

From a distance, Harry thought the Eiffel Tower looked pretty shabby and not at all like he had expected it. Maybe it was just the gloom of the rain clouds, but it looked really miserable. Remus then returned and led the group over to a large building on the bank of the river.

"This is the River Seine," he announced, "We'll be going on a boat trip in about five minutes. Toilets are that way."

All of the students decided to use the toilet so they moved off in the direction Professor Lupin had shown.

Five minutes later, everybody was boarding a river tourist boat with a large covered area and some open viewing areas. The Hogwarts students went and sat down at the front of the boat on some wooden seats.

"The water's so grey!" said Ginny, wrinkling her nose, "Is it polluted or something?"

"No, I expect it's just reflecting the colour of the sky," Hermione said, as the boat shuddered and began to move.

A lady came around and handed each of them a large walkie-talkie.

"Tu est anglais?" she asked, "C'est numéro deux."

"Merci," replied Hermione.

As the lady moved off, Hermione leaned forward as whispered, "This will tell you about the river in English so you can understand it. You put it to your ear," she demonstrated, "and press number two. The lady said that's the English version."

The others followed her instructions and were soon learning about the history of the River Seine and some of the buildings on the banks.

"There's Notre Dame!" explained Hermione, "There's a very famous story about a hunchback and Notre Dame. I'll tell it you sometime!"

Ron looked interested and walked through the covered area to get a closer look from the back of the boat. When he returned, he was grinning.

"There's a bloke in there that has this kind of cone and he's speaking through it and its like got a _sonorous _charm on it or something!"

"Oh, that's a microphone," explained Hermione.

Everybody wanted a look so they crowded into the covered area and watched the male announcer. They listened for about a minute and then Ginny asked in a hesitant voice.

"Is everything he's saying French?"

"No," replied Hermione, "There is some French but there's also English and I think there's some German too,"

"There is and Italian and Spanish," said Draco. "No, I don't know all those languages," he then said, noticing their open-mouthed expressions, "I just recognise some of them because some of the people that visit our manor speak those languages."

"Cool," said Ron. He smirked suddenly. "Do you reckon that means that man is more intelligent than Hermione if he can speak several languages?"

Everyone laughed as Hermione hit him over the head.

About ten minutes later, the students noticed the boat was turning around. As it approached a bridge, the announcer began speaking very fast in French making kissing noises. Draco and Hermione listened and grinned.

"When you go under that bridge, you're supposed to kiss," sniggered Draco, noticing Harry and Ron go red. "I think it's traditional or something!"

_Well tradition must be upheld_ thought Ron and Harry, with more than a little blush on their cheeks. As the boat got nearer to the bridge, their cheeks got even redder until they were positively crimson, which Malfoy watched with delight.

As the tourist boat sailed underneath the bridge, Harry and Ron gathered all their courage and kissed their respective crushes on the cheek.

As light dawned on the boat again, four out of the six students were blushing and they all had goofy little smiles on their faces.

"Well finally," muttered Malfoy,

"It's about time," agreed Neville, "Come on, let's go back to our seats."

Towards the end of the boat trip, strange music came over the walkie-talkies. "Hermione, is that the can-can?" he asked,

"Yes," confirmed Hermione, "It was composed around here I think."

"What's the can-can?" asked Ginny,

"It's a famous Muggle dance," said Harry, "Want to demonstrate Hermione?"

Hermione looked around and saw the virtually empty platform and nodded. She and Harry got up and they linked arms.

"One, two, three," whispered Harry.

On the count of three, both students began humming the tune and kicking their legs up in synchronisation.

Everyone else watched in amusement and one by one, got up and linked arms and joined in the dance. They were having so much fun that nobody noticed that the boat had stopped and Professor's McGonagall and Lupin were watching them, laughing hard.

"I think you ought to put on a show at Hogwarts!" chuckled Remus.

The six students stopped dancing immediately and turned to face their teachers, flushing heavily.

"That was very good," said Professor McGonagall, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, "now, we have half an hour until lunchtime and there's a gift shop over there if you're interested…or there's an empty space next to the minibus where you can practise your dance…"

Remus snorted. "I thought for a minute that I was on the River _In-_Seine by accident!"

Embarrassed and hot, the six students traipsed in the direction of the gift shop, ignoring their teacher's laughter.

* * *

The rain had begun again by the time lunchtime arrived so they decided to eat their rather crusty baguettes inside the minibus. Harry was distinctly glad that it wasn't his turn to clean the minibus out that evening. The mess of crumbs was unbelievable.

At half past two, the Hogwarts group trailed over to the base of the Eiffel Tower. Everybody was slightly overawed by the sheer size of it and Draco and Hermione looked slightly apprehensive. Harry had changed his mind about the Eiffel Tower: however shabby it had looked from a long distance, it looked pretty impressive close to. They went and stood in the centre, underneath the Eiffel Tower and glanced curiously at the four enormous bases. There were long queues protruding from three of the bases, which appeared to have lifts going up and down the legs and the other leg had stairs going up, which a fair number of people were climbing up and coming down.

Remus cleared his throat. "Right, you have two and a half hours to do what you want on this site. Meet back here at five o'clock. Is everybody clear?"

The students nodded and the teachers left.

"I want to go up to the top!" said Ron, enthusiastically and Harry and Neville nodded.

"I think there's a charge to use the lifts," Hermione noted, "Or we can walk up."

"No way!" said Draco, "It's miles high!"

"Actually," said Hermione, haughtily, "It's only 324 metres high!"

"I'd like to go in one of those lift thingys," Ginny said, "They looked really fun!"

"Well, ok," said Harry, "Let's go check how much it costs."

Taking the lift right to the top would cost each of them ten euros seventy and they all agreed it was an acceptable cost. They made their way to the end of one of the long queues and settled down to wait.

"Hey look!" said Neville, after a while, "Up there on the first platform, there's two figures waving down and I swear it looks like Professor's McGonagall and Lupin!"

The others strained to see. "Yeah, it does look like them. Let's wave!"

They all lifted their arms and waved widely at the two specks way above them and Harry took a photo with the camera Remus had bought him.

"They must have walked up," said Ron, knowledgably,

"No shit, Sherlock!" said Hermione, prompting a laugh from Harry and puzzled looks from the others.

"_Did you just swear_?" asked Ron at the same time as Ginny asked, "Who's Sherlock?"

* * *

As the six students got closer and closer to the first lift, Draco and Hermione seemed to be getting very pale.

"What's up?" asked Harry, as he saw their white faces,

"Nothing! I'm just fine!" replied Hermione, in a very high pitched voice.

Harry and Ginny frowned but said no more as it was their turn to get in the lift. It was an average sized lift with several small windows, meaning the occupants could look out over Paris while they rose. The attendants pushed the six of them in followed by many other tourists: as a result, everybody was very squashed. The Hogwart's students were jammed up against one of the sides so they did have a very good view. The lift doors clanged shut and the lift began its ascent.

"Whee!" said Ron, gaining many strange looks, "This is fun!" Ginny nodded and leant over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Almost as good as broomsticks!" Harry nodded slightly, trying to rid his face of the hot blush created by the sensation of Ginny's whisper on his ear. In order to distract himself, he gazed around the lift and his eyes focused on Draco and Hermione. Draco was griping the safety bar that ran around the edge of the lift, so hard that his knuckles were white. He had his eyes squeezed tightly shut and his teeth were tightly clenched. Hermione was much the same. Harry nudged Ron and gestured towards Hermione.

"So _that's _it!" Ron whispered. He shuffled slowly over towards Hermione. "Are you alright, Hermione?" he asked, softly.

She looked up and saw the care in Ron's eyes. "I…I'm just a bit scared of heights," she answered, shakily,

"Don't worry. You're safe here with me," Ron said, covering her hands with his own. Hermione leant into Ron and breathed out.

Suddenly, the lift came to a stop and everybody looked up. They had arrived at the first floor platform and the doors opened.

"Do we need to get out?" said Neville,

"We want to go to the top," Ginny said, loudly.

"Lift goes no further," said one of the attendants, in broken English, "You must join ze new queue!"

The lift gradually emptied and the Hogwart's students strolled along the walk way towards the next huge queue. Harry noticed Draco and Hermione kept well away from the edge and Hermione had not let go of Ron's hand.

They joined the queue, which was even longer than the previous and got ready to wait. Harry perched on top of the railings and Ginny soon followed him.

"What do you reckon?" she asked, nodding towards Ron and Hermione who's heads were _very _close together.

"I think it's working," replied Harry, grinning, "It really _is _about time!"

"Yeah," Ginny smiled, then sighed, "With all this romance going on, I wish _I_ could have some romance!"

Harry didn't reply but blushed slightly and then blushed even harder when Ginny shuffled along the railings to him.

"Please get off ze railings, s'il vous plait!" commanded a foreign voice, suddenly.

Harry and Ginny immediately jumped down and tried to look inconspicuous. Malfoy sniggered behind his hand and Harry rolled his eyes.

"What's so funny?" he asked,

"Oh, you know," Malfoy replied, airily, watching Ginny wander away to talk to Neville, "You're almost as obvious as Weasley and _that's _saying something!"

"Oh, hush you!" grinned Harry, guiltily. He stopped and stared for a moment. "Merlin! _How_ weird is this? Us two known enemies chatting and joking like we were best friends!"

"It _is_ peculiar," acknowledged Draco, "If this ever gets out, my image as the Slytherin Ice Prince would be non-existent!"

Harry snorted and a thought struck him.

"Draco," he said, "are you afraid of heights?"

"What?" said Draco, looking around quickly, "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Alright," Harry said, "You just seemed to be pretty pale back then and you won't go near the edge,"

"Oh, Potter!" Malfoy spat, "How can I be scared of heights if I ride a broomstick in Quidditch matches?" His face was oddly triumphant as he watched Harry shrug his shoulders.

"Well, ok," conceded Harry, still puzzled.

* * *

It was half past three before the Hogwart's group finally reached the very top of the Eiffel Tower. They scrambled out of the third and final lift and ran to look over the edge.

"We're so high!" said Ginny, in awe, "I wonder what would happen if you fell of the top?"

"You'd die!" said Ron, "Don't be thick, Ginny!"

"You couldn't fall off anyway. That's what this high fence is for," Neville said, rattling the fence that ran around the enclosure.

The group moved around and gazed at Paris from the great height. They could see the River Seine flowing for miles.

"Look right down, Draco!" shouted Harry, "See how small the people are down there and look at the size of the cars!"

"Err, I don't want to thanks," muttered Draco, moving away. He turned his back on the edge and looked into the building in the middle. "Hey, there's some sort of museum in there!"

Hermione whipped round eagerly. "Let's go," she cried, dragging Ron with her, whose hand she still hadn't let go.

Harry grinned and shook his head and followed them in.

* * *

Three quarters of an hour later, they were still on the top platform. They had looked in the information section and found out how the Eiffel Tower had been constructed and the fact that only one man had died during its two year construction, which they found quite amazing. They had looked at the view from all sides of the enclosure and had a few photos taken. Ginny had discovered some toilets and they had all gone. Afterwards, they agreed that it was the weirdest place any of them had ever gone to the toilet.

"Guys, I think we better head back down now," Hermione said, "We have to meet the professors in just over half an hour."

"OK," said Neville, "Why don't we walk down this time? It'll be quicker."

"Good idea," said Draco, "but we have to get the lift down to the second level."

They joined the end of the queue, which was surprisingly short and very soon they were on the second tier and looking for the stairs.

"Here they are!" shouted Ginny, "Let's count them as we go down!"

"If you really want to," Draco said, dubiously.

"I really want to," Ginny replied, looking straight at Malfoy.

"Well, ok, then," Harry said, loudly, "_One_, two, three, four…"

As they were approaching the first level ("four hundred and sixteen…"), Harry noticed Hermione and Ron _still _hadn't let go of each others hands.

"Do you two have a sticking charm on your hands or something?" he grinned, catching them up.

They both blushed and briefly let go of one another's hands.

"So, are you two going out yet?" he asked, bluntly.

"Erm, well I'm not sure," said Ron, nervously, peeking at Hermione. She smiled back at him. "Do…do you want to give it a shot, Hermione?"

Hermione flushed even redder. "I…I think so!" she squeaked.

"Hallelujah!" shouted Harry, loudly and the other three students turned just in time to see Ron give Hermione a peck on the lips.

They cheered and wolf whistled; even Malfoy looked happy to see them together at last.

As time was getting on, they hurried down the stairs and were waiting for the professors at exactly five o'clock.

"Hello!" called Remus, strolling up towards them, "Did you have a good time?"

"Yep," said Harry, "We went right to the top on the lift and then walked back down afterwards. My legs are really aching now though because of all those steps!"

Remus laughed. "Minerva's over at that ice cream stand," he told them, "Anybody wanting one should get over there fast."

The students stampeded over and were soon happily slurping ice creams in the enormous shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

The return journey from Paris to their gite took ages because they hit all of the rush hour traffic but they finally arrived at half past seven. Everybody tumbled out of the minibus and took the football to the playing field, except for the professors and Harry, who was on cooking duty that night.

"Have you cooked before?" asked Professor McGonagall,

"Yes, professor, I've been cooking for my relatives since I was eight," Harry replied, fiddling with the apron strings.

Professor McGonagall paled and Remus looked angry.

"Well," McGonagall said quickly, "You should be ok cooking sausages, potatoes and baked beans. Give a shout if you need any help."

The two professors retired into the dining room while Harry quickly got to work. He peeled the potatoes and set them in the boiling water for twenty minutes. Meanwhile, he opened the enormous can of sixteen tinned sausages and dumped them into a large saucepan along with the brine and poured the tin of baked beans into another saucepan. When the time came, he turned the heat on and poked his head into the dining room.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, professors," he announced,

"Thanks Harry," Remus said, "I'll go and collect the others." He left the room and Harry returned to his cooking. Professor McGonagall came in and took a bottle out of the fridge.

"What's that?" asked Harry, his curiosity getting the better of him,

"Champagne. Did you know this is actually the Champagne region of France?" answered Professor McGonagall,

"No," said Harry, stirring the beans, "I've never tried champagne."

"Oh, well you can try some tonight if you like," said Professor McGonagall, "Remus and I decided we'll celebrate Mr. Weasley's and Miss Granger's surprise."

"You know about that?" asked Harry, surprised,

"Oh, yes, Harry. I've been a teacher for forty years and I've picked up a few things in my time," said Professor McGonagall, lightly,

"Oh, well happy anniversary then Professor," said Harry.

They both laughed as the other students returned with Remus, laughing and full of high spirits. Malfoy set the table and then sat down with everybody else enjoying a preliminary drink of coke. Shortly, Harry yelled that dinner was ready and they all grabbed a plate from the stack on the table and lined up in the kitchen, where Harry served them their dinner before collecting his own and sitting around the table.

"Would anybody like a glass of champagne?" asked Professor McGonagall, uncorking the bottle with a loud POP!

Everybody put his or her hand up and Professor McGonagall served them all quickly.

"I propose a toast!" said Harry, loudly, "To Ron and Hermione!"

"Ron and Hermione!" echoed the two professors, Neville, Ginny and Malfoy and drank deeply while the two mentioned blushed and smiled.

"Mmm! This champagne is delicious!" said Ginny, smacking her lips,

"Yeah," agreed Neville, "And this food is very tasty. Well done Harry!"

They all congratulated Harry and finished their meal in a whirlwind of chatting, laughing and eating. Everybody was ridiculously happy just because Hermione and Ron had finally got together.

* * *

Once they had all finished their yoghurts and cleaned up, the remaining contestants in the chess tournament collected their pieces and boards and sat down facing their opponents. Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Remus all chose a seat and started cheering for whoever they wanted to win.

"Contestants are you ready?" asked Remus.

They replied yes.

"Then, let the games begin!"

After an hour of fierce competition, Ron was wearing Neville down and Professor McGonagall had half the amount of pieces that Draco did. It was beginning to be clear who would win each game.

"Come on Ron!" cheered Hermione. Ron looked at her and smiled sweetly, blowing her a kiss, which made everyone else feel slightly sickened.

"Check!" said Neville, suddenly, beaming,

"What?" shouted Ron, "How come?" He scanned the board frantically, desperately trying to think of a good move to make. Hermione was watching with her nails digging into her cheeks, much like in the First Tournament of the Triwizard Tournament.

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall had lost a further two of her pieces and there was a thick covering of white powder covering the board from where Draco's chessmen had been particularly savage.

Draco was currently studying the board with utmost concentration on his face. Minerva watched him nervously, well aware that she was very near defeat.

"Aha!" muttered Draco and directed one of his pieces to a specific square. Professor McGonagall sucked in a breath and moved a figure before realising her mistake.

"Checkmate!" said Draco, as his Knight knocked the professor's King over with a miniscule cry of success.

"We have our first finalist," boomed Remus, "Mr. Draco Malfoy will play the winner of this match in the final!"

Ron had managed to regain his composure and trap Neville's King into a corner. With a few more moves, he managed to defeat Neville and become the other finalist.

"Good game, Neville!" Ron said, shaking Neville's hand,

"Yeah, you nearly had him beat because he was too busy making gooey eyes at Hermione," giggled Ginny, shaking her head.

"Shut up, you!" said Hermione, once again blushing furiously.

The students got up from around the table and Ron, Neville and Draco repaired their broken chessmen before retiring upstairs and congregating in the boy's bedroom.

"_What_ a day!" sighed Neville, "I'm knackered!"

"Me too, I am falling asleep as I sit," yawned Ginny,

"It's probably 'cause you're so little," said Ron, resting his head against the wall,

"I am _not_ little, Ronald!" snapped Ginny, "I am only a year younger than you are!"

"You tell him, Gin!" said Harry,

Ron's head snapped up, "Hey, whose side are you on, Potter?"

"I'm defending a lady's honour," Harry explained, smirking,

"Ginny is not a lady!" said Ron,

"Hello, I'm here you know!" said Ginny, loudly, waving her hand in front of their faces.

Hermione giggled and then stood up, stretching. "Well, I'm off to bed!"

"Night," said everyone and Harry added, "Sure you don't want Ron to come with you?"

Hermione's shriek of "HARRY POTTER!" was drowned out by a loud gale of laughter. It echoed through the gite and out the partially opened window into the ears of the local French habitants, who wondered what those crazy English people were up to now.

* * *

**Thanks to hypa4evr, emmaline of trebond and luckycharms445. Three reviews is an all time low for this story and it's kind of depressing!**

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	5. Tuesday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Five**

**Tuesday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

Harry was standing under the shower, thinking about the events of the past few days, as the warm water washed down his body. It was extremely refreshing and relaxing. A lot was different to what it had been like on Thursday when they had been told about the trip. Malfoy was actually being friendly and they had been able to get along with one another and generally have a good time. Harry wasn't looking forward to returning to Hogwarts and going back to being enemies. Now he knew what Draco could be like, he didn't want to loose that.

'Ron and Hermione.' Harry smiled as he though about his two best friends. Their getting together had been a surprise that hadn't been very surprising to any of them on the trip. He was sincerely glad they had found one another. Merlin, maybe there would be fewer arguments!

'Ginny'. Harry blushed even at the mere _thought_ of her. He loved how happy she always made him feel and how she was always so easy to communicate with. Maybe he had feelings for her?

He was beginning to feel cold so he stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off and dressed. Ginny was sitting on the floor outside the door, clutching her towel and shower gel.

"Blimey, how long do you wanna take?" she asked, looking up at him,

"Oh, sorry Gin, I was just thinking," he explained,

"What about?" she questioned, a curious glint in her eye, her lips smirking,

"Wouldn't you like to know," Harry said, passing her with a wink and making his way to the dining room.

He _definitely _had feelings for her.

* * *

Harry and Draco were having a casual conversation over breakfast when Ron and Hermione walked in, holding hands. They sat down very close to one another and proceeded to eat a croissant, sharing it.

Draco was watching in mild horror and Harry was certain his face had greenish tinges to it. His own breakfast lay forgotten on his plate.

"Do you _have _to do that in front of us?" Malfoy asked, disgusted,

"Just 'because you can't get anyone," Ron said, "Mind you I'm not really that surprised."

Malfoy scowled but said nothing.

"Ron, that's mean," Harry started,

"Harry! You shouldn't care if it's mean or not! He's Death Eater scum!" Ron said, vehemently.

"I am _not_ Death Eater scum, you moron!" yelled Draco, "Don't talk about what you don't understand, _Weasel_!" He stormed out of the room.

Professor McGonagall poked her head in and enquired to what the matter was. Harry explained as best as he could, while Ron sat furiously.

"Mr. Weasley! Come with me, immediately!" Professor McGonagall snapped red with rage.

Reluctantly, Ron got to his feet and followed the teacher. Hermione gave him a swift swipe on the bottom and rolled her eyes.

"Do you reckon you should see if Malfoy's OK?" she asked, anxiously.

"Yeah," Harry sighed. He stomped up the stairs and could hear Professors McGonagall and Lupin berating Ron. He felt slightly pleased about that. What Ron had said had been mean, especially as they were all trying to get along.

At the top of the stairs, Harry met Neville looking frantic, dressed in only a tatty old towel.

"Harry! It's Draco! He stormed into our room and he won't open the door and I _really_ need my clothes!" he cried.

"OK. Hang on," Harry instructed, knocking on the door.

"Go away!" snapped Draco's voice,

"No. Let me in," Harry said, trying to open the door,

"I said, go away!"

"Please let me in. It's my bedroom as well!"

There was no reply. Harry waited until he lost patience and whipped out his wand.

"Alohomora!" he cried.

The bedroom door clicked open and Harry strolled inside, closely followed by Neville. Malfoy was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a scowl still on his face. Harry walked over and stood over him, staring down while Neville scurried around grabbing his clothes and then escaped into the bathroom to get dressed.

"Are you alright," Harry said, softly,

"Would _you_ be alright in my position?" Draco said,

"I wouldn't have thought so," replied Harry, sitting down on the bed, "That was mean of Ron."

"You're telling me?" scoffed Draco, "Calling me _death eater scum_! He doesn't have a bloody clue what he's talking about!"

There was a pause.

"Why?" asked Harry, quietly,

"Merlin! Do you think I'm a Death Eater too?" said Draco,

"I assumed so…well when we were enemies…you acted like you were, you know calling Hermione names and well, you're in Slytherin and according to Ron, there's not a witch or wizard in Slytherin who didn't go bad," mumbled Harry,

"Well, you shouldn't believe everything _Ron_says," Malfoy sneered, "I'm not my father."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry,

"Look Potter, I don't know why I'm telling you this of all people! Probably 'cause you're like one of the main leaders of the Light side or so it seems from the Dark side… Anyway, as hard as you probably find this to believe, I don't want to be a Death Eater and bow down to that snake faced idiot my stupid father worships so much! All that nonsense he sprouts about Pure-bloods being the superior race…for God's sake, he's Half-blood anyway. What a hypocrite!"

Harry sat silently as he listened to Draco rant.

"I didn't know you felt like that," he said, after a while, "You've certainly never shown any signs of feeling like that."

"Well, I'm telling you now," Malfoy said, "Anyway, it's almost half past eight. We need to go." He brushed his hand through his hair and sighed.

Harry nodded and together they collected their bags and walked down the stairs.

* * *

"Beauxbatons? We're going to _Beauxbatons_ today?" whispered Hermione, her eyes wide,

"Yes," said Remus, smiling at the excited girl.

"YES!" screamed Hermione, jumping up and down, "We're going to Beauxbatons!"

Harry shook his head at how excited Hermione was at simply visiting another school. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Remus? How are we getting there?" he asked,

"Madame Maxime has generously provided us with a Portkey, which activates in five minutes. Therefore, we don't have much time. Is everybody ready to leave?"

Everybody was so they gathered around the dining table and touched the ragged French newspaper that Remus held out.

His eyes on his watch, Remus counted down the remaining seconds and suddenly with a tug behind their navel, the Hogwarts group were travelling through a blur of light and colour.

Their feet hit the ground with a thump and Harry immediately fell over. Sniggering, Ginny hauled him up and for a moment, their faces were very close together. Breathing deeply, Harry stared into her warm brown eyes before a loud shout attracted his attention.

"Harry!" Ron yelled, "Will you look at this place?"

Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from Ginny and took a look around the Beauxbatons grounds. The grounds appeared very large and apart from a few gravel pathways, was entirely covered in lush green grass and multicoloured flowers. There was a Quidditch pitch over on one side of the grounds and on the other side; there was the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea and a sandy beach. The school itself looked more like a white palace than a school and Harry thought it wouldn't look out of place in a fairy tale. All in all Beauxbatons Academy of Magic was extremely beautiful and grand.

"Where _are _we?" gasped Neville, in awe,

"Beauxbatons is located in the south-east of France," replied Remus, "Ah here comes Madame Maxime now!"

The students looked up at the giant figure of the headmistress of Beauxbatons, while Hermione breathed, "I _knew _it! Bouillabaisse is only served in south east France really and their uniforms appeared to be designed for hot weather- that's why they were cold in Scotland!"

Nobody answered as they were too busy greeting Madame Maxime enthusiastically.

"Ah, bonjour Lupin, Madame McGonagall and mes enfants, I am pleased to see you again!" she greeted, planting kisses on everyone's cheeks. "I 'ope you are all well?"

"Fine thank you," replied the professors.

"Welcome to Beauxbatons. We 'ave a selection of things for you to do today if you like. I 'ave appointed some of my students to be your guides. Ah, 'ere zey are!" Madame Maxime waved her hand at a group of Beauxbatons students standing patiently behind her. "Zey are in their sixth year 'ere and are taking ze day off studying to be your guides!"

"We are honoured," Remus said, nodding to the students who smiled back.

"Zey will take you for a tour of ze Palace of Beauxbatons before luncheon. I will see you zen. Please, 'ave a nice morning." Madame Maxime gave her students some instructions in rapid French and then walked back up to the school, along with Professors McGonagall and Lupin.

"Bonjour," said one of the students, "My name iz Alain and zey are Céline, Monique, Sacha, Fabrice and Luc."

The Hogwarts students introduced themselves and followed the guides across the grounds and into the school.

* * *

By the time they retired for lunch in the Beauxbatons Great Hall, the Hogwarts students had been taken all over the school and had seen everything. They had compared it with Hogwarts all the way around and were dutifully impressed.

"Do you like our school?" asked Sacha, a pretty blonde girl,

"It's great," Neville said, in a strangled voice,

"It's really similar to Hogwarts but I expect all magical schools are the same, really," said Hermione, picking some grass out of Ron's hair,

"I've never seen 'ogwarts," said Luc, "I was too young to enter ze Triwizard Tournament. 'arry, weren't you a champion?"

"Oh, yes I was," said Harry, chewing his lip,

"You won, did you not?" asked Fabrice, "Along with ze other 'ogwart's champion?"

"Err, yeah," said Harry, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Let's change the subject," said Ginny, hastily,

"OK, what are ze similarities between our schools, zen?" asked Céline, curiously, "I know zat 'ogwarts iz a castle,"

"Yes, that's one difference and we're in the middle of a load of mountains and you're by the sea," Ron said,

"Hogwarts has four houses called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. We're all in Gryffindor except for Draco, who's in Slytherin. Traditionally, we're not supposed to get along," explained Ginny,

"Beauxbatons 'asn't any 'ouses but we compete year against year. We 'ave fewer students' zan 'ogwarts. Only five 'undred," Monique said,

"We have over a thousand. It gets crowded sometimes," said Neville, "but we all have our own common room and dormitories in our house,"

"As you 'ave seen, our dormitories are on ze upper levels of ze academy and we sleep five persons to a room and a common room for each year," said Sacha, smiling at Neville.

Suddenly, a bell began to ring and all the Beauxbatons students jumped up and headed out of the door.

"Eet iz ze end of luncheon," explained Alain, "Zey must return to zeir lessons. If you like, we will play a game of Quidditch now?"

"Oh yes!" cried Harry, Ron and Draco.

The French students laughed at their enthusiasm.

"Does anybody not want to play Quidditch?" asked Céline,

"I don't really want to. Most of the time, I end up watching the boys or going to the library," said Hermione,

"I can't fly very well," said Neville, blushing,

"Very well. We will go and sit out somewhere," said Céline, "Sacha, will you come with us?"

"Yes," replied Sacha. Neville looked very happy.

"Ciao," said Luc, "We'll see you at about three?"

"Yes, ciao," said Céline, waving them off.

Alain, Fabrice, Luc, Monique, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Draco strolled over the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch and then inside. They stood in a ring on the pitch and looked at one another.

"It's four on four, then," said Harry,

"OK, 'ow about two French and two English on each team? Zat will make eet easier," suggested Fabrice,

"Great idea," said Ron,

"Very well. Do any of you play on teams?" asked Monique, in interest, "I, Alain and Luc play for our year's team."

"Cool. Ginny, Harry and I play for Gryffindors Quidditch team and Malfoy plays for Slytherin. Harry's actually our captain," answered Ron, "What positions does everyone play?"

"I am a Chaser," said Alain,

"I am also a Chaser," said Luc,

"I am Keeper," said Monique,

"I play anything," said Fabrice, with a smile.

"Well that makes it easy then," said Captain Harry, "Four positions will be Seeker, two Chasers and a Keeper. Let me see…"

The other seven players waited to see what he had decided.

"Right, team one is Draco as Seeker, Ron as Keeper and Luc and Fabrice as Chasers. Team two is me as Seeker, Monique as Keeper and Ginny and Alain as Chasers. Is that alright with everybody?" said Harry,

"Fine," everybody said.

Luc and Alain ran off to collect eight good broomsticks and Draco helped Fabrice charm the bludgers. They would have to make do without any beaters.

When the French boys came back, they carried eight Cleansweep Elevens and had brought Hermione, Céline, Neville and Sacha along with them.

"Do you want us to commentate?" Sacha asked, "We decided to come and watch,"

"Alright!" yelled Luc, "Do not be biased!"

The players clambered onto their brooms, Sacha and Neville went to the commentators post and Céline and Hermione went and sat in the stands and the game began.

"Good afternoon, everybody!" said Sacha, "Myself and Neville 'ere will be commentating on zis wonderful game. And ze Quaffle is taken immediately by Ginny- she iz really belting along up zere, a neat pass to Alain, back to Ginny- non, now Luc has taken ze Quaffle and off he goes- he iz going to sc… non, stopped by an excellent move by Monique. Alain iz back in possession, nice dive around Fabrice zere! Look at 'im go! Flying like an eagle up zere…OUCH! Zat must have hurt- hit in ze back of ze head by a bludger!"

Neville took over the commentary; his voice timid at first but then growing in strength.

"The Quaffle is taken by Luc. He is speeding off towards the goals but he's blocked by a bludger and drops the Quaffle! Ginny is back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes- she's really flying- dodges a speeding bludger- the goal posts are ahead- come on, now, Ginny- Keeper Ron dives- misses- Ginny scores!"

Ginny's team cheered and whooped while the other team groaned. As play started again, Sacha took over commentating.

"Fabrice in possession, 'e ducks a bludger, 'e ducks Alain and speeds towards ze- wait a moment- was zat ze Snitch?"

Harry turned around sharply and dived towards Alain, who had dropped the Quaffle. Draco was neck and neck with him; both had their arms out, straining, when suddenly:

"Arghh!" they both screamed, as a bludger came pelting straight at them. They scattered and lost sight of the Snitch, which disappeared once more.

"Oh well," said Neville, "Alain manages to retake the Quaffle and tosses it to Ginny but it is intercepted by Luc, who speeds off to the goal posts, past Ginny… and scores! Ten all!"

Team one cheered and play resumed.

The game continued for another hour, with each side gradually gaining more points. The score was 70:90 to Draco's team when Harry suddenly went into a magnificent dive. Hurriedly, Draco dived after him. They were getting nearer and nearer the ground and then Harry pulled out and flew straight forward after a small dancing, golden blur. Meanwhile, Draco startled to see Harry suddenly disappear stopped watching where he was going and hit the ground with a loud _thump_!

"Harry Potter has just performed ze Wronski Feint!" screamed Sacha, "Mon Dieu! No wonder he iz ze the captain!"

"Look!" shouted Neville, pointing at Harry, "He's going…he's going…he's got it! Harry Potter has the snitch! Team two win the game!"

Everybody cheered and then ran over to make sure Draco was alright.

Draco groaned, stood up and looked at Harry. "I _really _hate it when you do that!"

"Sorry," grinned Harry, "Want me to teach you?"

"'arry!" squealed Monique, "You were fantastique!" She hugged him and planted two fat kisses on each of his cheeks; Ginny glowered silently at Monique's back, which Harry found rather endearing.

"Well done 'arry. I will look forward to seeing you play professionally in a few years time," grinned Luc.

Harry smiled slightly and looked around to see Ron and Hermione locked in a post match snog fest.

"Break it up!" he said, loudly.

Ron looked up. "Harry, just you wait until you're having a snog with my sister!"

Harry and Ginny blushed bright red and everyone else tittered.

"Come on," said Céline, "We 'ave two 'ours before we 'ave to return to school. Let's go down to ze beach?"

"OK," said Hermione, "Pack up quickly and then we can go."

* * *

With the treat of a Mediterranean beach to look forward to, the Quidditch equipment was soon packed away and the twelve students made their way across the school grounds and onto the soft sandy beach. A wide array of beachwear was piled on a rock with huge towels and a football. Everybody decided they wanted to go into the sea, so they quickly hid from one another behind rocks and got changed into swimming costumes or trunks, which shrunk to fit the wearer, handily enough. Then, they ran shrieking into the waves.

"It's so COLD!" gasped Ginny, shivering violently.

Harry crept up behind her and dived on her back, sending her face first into the water with a scream. Harry stood laughing above her as she emerged, which turned into a yell as Ginny pulled his ankle and he fell down on top of her. As they sank through the water, their faces were centimetres apart. They stared at one another until, all of a sudden, Ginny leant forward a planted a brief peck on Harry's lips. Then, she turned and swam quickly off.

Harry inhaled a load of water and stood up choking. He scanned the immediate area and saw Ginny was having a water fight with Draco, Luc, Fabrice, Monique, Alain and Céline. Ron and Hermione were playing tonsil tennis over on the beach and Sacha and Neville were chatting; sitting right on the shoreline.

"You ok, Harry?" Ginny yelled. She was grinning and winked at him, saucily.

"F…f…fine thanks!" he stuttered out and ducked his head into the water to cool down his cheeks.

The rest of their time down on the beach was spent enjoying themselves as thoroughly as possible. Harry dragged Ron away from Hermione and they, Draco and the French lads had a quick game of football: French versus English. Céline and Hermione made friends as they discovered they both shared a love of books among other interests and Sacha and Neville got even closer and even amounted to holding hands as they strolled back up to the academy at about six o'clock.

"Ah, zere you are," declared Madame Maxime, when they met her and Professor's McGonagall and Lupin in the entrance hall, "I trust you 'ave enjoyed yourselves?"

"Yes, thank you," replied everyone.

"Bien, We 'ave organised a small party for our English guests this evening with dinner. Come with me," said Madame Maxime, leading the way.

The followed the headmistress though a maze of corridors and into a fairly large room. The setting sun gleamed in through the windows and highlighted a long table with enough seats for fifteen people. That was down one end of the room. The rest of the room was dedicated to a dance floor, which Harry looked at with a gulp.

"Please sit," instructed Madame Maxime, gesturing to the table, "We will 'ave dinner first."

Harry sat in a chair and consequently found himself between Ron and Ginny. Hermione was on Ron's other side with Céline sitting next to her. On Ginny's other side was Neville and then Sacha. Immediately opposite Harry was Draco and Monique was sitting on one side and Alain on the other. The two Hogwart's professors were sitting next to one another at one end of the table and Madame Maxime took up the other end by herself.

"Bon appetite!" said Madame Maxime and a wide selection of English and French food appeared in the centre of the table and many jugs of Pumpkin Juice and varying other drinks. Harry quickly helped himself to some food and tuned into what Ron and Hermione were saying.

"I love it when you smile," said Ron, gazing at Hermione who immediately smiled,

"Aw, you're so cute," said Hermione.

Harry shook himself and tried to block them out by eating another mouthful of chicken.

"It's disgusting, isn't it?" said a quiet voice in his ear. He turned to look at Ginny, who was smirking,

"Just a little bit," Harry said, willing himself not to think of last time he was alone with Ginny,

"I'm hoping it's just their honeymoon period," Ginny stated,

"Their honeymoon period?" asked Harry, confused,

"Well, they've just started going out so they're going to be gooey for a few days and then they should be back to normal. Until then, we've got to put up with them!"

"Merlin, I hope it's soon," muttered Harry,

"Don't you like romance Mr. Potter?" asked Ginny,

"I…well…" stammered Harry,

"Didn't you like the kiss?" whispered Ginny, "'Cause I sure did."

Harry breathed in deeply and then blew out, trying to calm his racing heart. Ginny smiled sweetly and returned to eating.

* * *

When everybody had finished their meal, they all stood up and Madame Maxime waved her wand and the chairs flew to cluster around small round tables that suddenly appeared. The original large table disappeared, the lights dimmed and music began to play.

Harry went and sat down at one of the small tables with Ron and watched everybody else dance to the fast track that was currently playing.

"Been a good day, hasn't it," remarked Ron,

"Yeah, I'm surprised you actually noticed any of it being constantly glued to Hermione!" teased Harry,

"Oh, shut up, Harry!" Ron laughed.

Ginny suddenly materialised in front of them.

"Come and dance, Harry!" she demanded,

"I can't dance!" protested Harry,

"So?" said Ginny, grasping his hand and pulling him to his feet.

Harry ignored Ron's smirk and followed Ginny into the throng of dancers. He looked around and tried to imitate everybody else's moves. After four songs, he was finally getting the hang of it and Ginny was smiling proudly.

"Dance avec moi, 'arry!" said Céline, "please?"

"Alright," laughed Harry, not noticing the dark looks on both Ginny and Draco's faces.

For the next hour, Harry danced with Céline, Hermione, Monique, Luc, Ron, Alain, Professor McGonagall, Fabrice and Remus. After the initial hesitation, Harry found dancing to be great fun and a lot of laughter was issued by various people.

All of a sudden, the Macarena song came on and everybody cheered and got into position. The song was so popular that even witches and wizards knew it, however Harry did not.

"Just get behind me and follow my actions!" whispered Ginny. Harry did as she said and imitated her actions: her arms went out in front and then across her chest and then behind her neck and then on her hips and then she wriggled her bottom and jumped ninety degrees to the right. Startled, Harry followed and the process started all over again. After a few circuits, Harry had memorised the dance and was performing it flawlessly.

After about fifty circuits, or so it seemed to Harry, the music came to an end and he flopped gratefully into a seat and took a long swig of pumpkin juice. He idly watched the remaining dancers until Ron came and sat next to him.

"I can never get enough of that song," he laughed, "its universal!"

"Yeah, I like it," said Harry, watching Ginny,

"My sister taught you well then?" asked Ron,

"Yeah," Harry said, "She's a good teacher,"

"Bet she can teach you other movements as well," muttered Ron,

"Ron!" yelped Harry, as the meaning of his statement sunk in,

"Oh come _on_, Harry! It's _so_ obvious you both like one another!" said Ron, "Why deny yourselves?"

Just then, a slow romantic song began and Hermione came over with hope in her eyes.

"Harry, I dare you to ask Ginny to dance this song with you," said Ron, as he stood up to face Hermione, "May I have this dance, m'lady?"

Hermione giggled and nodded and together they made their way onto the dance floor and began to slow dance.

Harry sighed and looked around. Ginny was sitting with Céline gazing wistfully at the dance floor. He made his way and over and opened his mouth.

"Do…do you want to dance, Ginny?" he asked, blushing furiously.

Ginny giggled. "I'd _love_ to, Harry."

She stood up just as Draco came over and took a hesitant breath. "Erm, Céline? Would you like to dance?"

Céline accepted and the four of them went onto the dance floor where Ron and Hermione, Luc and Monique and Neville and Sacha were already slow dancing.

Harry wrapped his hand around Ginny's waist and clasped his other hand in hers, hoping his hand wasn't too sweaty. They began rotating on the spot in time to the soft beat of the music with small smiles on both their faces. It was extremely peaceful and romantic and Harry enjoyed the slow dance immensely. As the song came to an end, he vowed to do it again with Ginny one day.

After a few more songs, Madame Maxime announced that the party was over and the lights relit. The twelve students congregated in the centre of the dance floor and hugged and kissed one another, with many promises to write and keep in touch. Although they had only known one another for a day, they had got incredibly close and were sad to leave one another.

"Stay in contact, mon ami!" said Monique to Harry, "I will miss you,"

"Come and visit soon," Fabrice said, shaking Ron's hand,

"Yeah mate, you're all welcome to visit Hogwarts anytime," Ron replied,

"Maybe the teachers can arrange an exchange like the Muggles do," suggested Hermione,

"Oui," Céline said, "That would be nice. I will miss you, Her-my-oh-knee!" She kissed her on each cheek and the two girls hugged.

Harry turned from shaking Alain's hand and saw Sacha and Neville in a fierce hug. As they drew apart, Sacha touched Neville's face and gently touched his forehead with her lips. Neville flushed but looked pleased.

"Come along," Remus said, "The Portkey leaves soon."

Everybody walked through the silent school and onto the front grounds and with a last hug, the Hogwart's group stood in a ring touching a deflated football.

"Ciao, Céline!" said Draco, turning to wave,

"Goodbye, Draco. I will miss you a lot," replied Céline.

Alain, Fabrice, Luc, Céline, Monique and Sacha all stood in a line waving goodbye to their guests as the Portkey activated and took the group back to their little gite in the North of France. They would miss them very much.

* * *

**Thanks to luckycharms445, Queenlover, Clopinette (I translated your review eventually- I do speak French but limited although I got an A in my GCSE's for French YAY!), Spacehog26 (You read my mind about a beach trip lol), cecile9155, vegetarians ROCK and griffindor-girl12. **

_**Updated as of 31August2005 with help from Clopinette.**_

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	6. Wednesday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Six**

**Wednesday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

Everybody slept late the next morning so it was half past nine before anybody even opened their eyes. One by one, they dragged themselves through the shower and sat down to breakfast, yawning widely.

Once everybody had eaten, Remus stood up to address the group.

"Good morning. I trust everyone slept well after our exciting day yesterday," he began, "We don't have a busy day today; all we have planned is a trip to a local village and then a barbeque tonight. As the trip won't take long, we have decided to remain here for what is left of the morning and go out after lunch. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

Everyone nodded or mumbled their consent and then exited the room once Remus had dismissed them. Only Neville remained behind with Remus.

"Remus? I don't suppose there's anyway of getting hold of an owl today is there?" he asked, shyly, "I just wanted to write to Sacha."

"Ah, you're in luck there, Neville. Professor Dumbledore is meant to be sending me a letter today so you are welcome to use the owl when it arrives," said Remus, gathering some pieces of parchment together,

"Oh, thanks," answered Neville. He grinned and jogged up the stairs.

"Guys!" he called when he got to the landing, "Remus said we can use an owl to send letters to the Beauxbatons lot!"

"That's good," said Hermione,

"Why? We only saw them yesterday," Ginny said, "It's not like they're going to have forgotten us already!"

"I just miss Sacha," said Neville, softly.

There was silence for a moment before Hermione broke it.

"I think I will write to Céline," she said, before going and collecting her stationery.

The six students all wrote to their new friends from Beauxbatons. Hermione wrote to Céline as did Draco. Harry wrote to Monique, Neville wrote a long letter to Sacha and Ron penned a quick scrawl to Fabrice mainly talking about the Chudley Cannons. Ginny couldn't decide who to write to so she addressed a letter to all six French students.

* * *

An hour later, Hermione was still writing and the other five were beginning to feel restless.

"I know," said Harry, "Let's go and have a game of football until lunch,"

"Yeah," said Draco, "Come and join us after if you finish, Hermione,"

"Actually, I'll keep Hermione company," Ginny said, "You boys go. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Well, that isn't a lot," muttered Harry,

"Oi!" shouted Ginny, playfully.

The four boys took a look at one another, grabbed the football and ran.

* * *

The four young men fell panting onto the grass in a heap. They had just finished their football game where nobody really knew who was on who's team. After breathing heavily for a few moments, Ron leaned up on one elbow smirking.

"So, Neville? What was that with Sacha?" he asked.

Neville went pink and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Ron,

"I said…" Neville stammered, "I like her."

Cue catcalls from the other three boys in which Neville turned from pink to crimson.

"I'm glad for you," Harry said, "You deserve it,"

"Thanks Harry. I hope you get Ginny soon," Neville said, innocently.

Draco and Ron started laughing all over again while Harry tried desperately to think of something smart to say.

"Shut up, Ron! _I'm _not the one snogging Hermione all the time!" he said.

Now Ron went red and Draco looked around at the three blushing boys in amusement. He sniggered loudly and said, "Look at you all. You're bright red!"

Ron raised one eyebrow and said coolly, "Then I suppose the 'I'll miss you lots _Céline'_ and 'Will you dance with me, _Céline_?' were purely friendly?"

"Well, we'll all just have to face it," Harry said, "We've all found girls on this trip who we fancy the pants off."

"I hope you don't mean that literally," said a voice.

The boys turned and saw Ginny and Hermione strolling casually towards them.

"Oh, I don't know, Hermione," said Ginny, slyly, "I sure wouldn't mind!"

Everybody gaped at Ginny in part amusement and part astonishment.

"_Ginny_!" gasped Hermione, "Anyway, Remus sent us to tell you firstly the owl has arrived so we can send our letters and secondly, lunch is ready so come back to the gite _now_."

Everybody got to their feet and raced back to the gite to collect their letters and attach them to the brown owl that was waiting, perched on a kitchen cabinet drinking from a small bowl of water that Professor McGonagall had provided. Lunch was on the table and the six students quickly sat down and grabbed half a baguette each and some filling and crisps. They were silent for a while because they were chewing and nobody had the bad manners to talk whilst eating.

Remus finished his meal and offered his arm to the owl, who hopped up onto it.

"I want you to take these letters to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Give them to Madame Maxime and then return here," Remus told the owl, while opening the window. The owl hooted in reply, spread its wings and soared out of the window and immediately above the clouds in case any Muggles were watching.

By this time, everybody had finished eating and was clearing up under the watchful eye of Professor McGonagall.

"Harry! Watch out!" squealed Ginny, as Harry inadvertently got in her path, "Oh _no_! I'm really sorry!" She stared in dismay at the large wet patch on the front of Harry's white t-shirt.

"It's ok, Gin. It was an accident, don't worry," said Harry, wiping his hands over his wet t-shirt.

He went and changed and presently joined the rest of the group sitting in the mini-bus, wearing a dry white t-shirt.

"Is that the only colour t-shirt you own?" joked Ron, from where he was sitting next to Hermione, "or are you hoping Ginny gets this one wet too?"

"Hush Ronald," said Harry, good naturedly as Remus climbed into the driver's seat and sat down.

"Are we all here?" Remus called.

Everyone was present so he started the engine and they drove slowly through the village. When they passed the playing field, they saw two small children stand and wave at them. They waved back at Gaspard and Amandine whom they had met on Sunday.

"How long until we get there?" Neville asked, from the back of the minibus,

"About half an hour," was the reply so the boys and Ginny settled into a lively Quidditch orientated discussion while Hermione rolled her eyes, tutted and pulled out a book to read.

**

* * *

**

The six Hogwarts students wandered slowly down the narrow cobbled streets of the French town they were visiting. They had lost the professors at the minibus and arranged to meet in approximately an hour and a half at the lake. They were second glanced by most of the locals because they were talking loudly in English and exclaiming over how quaint the town was.

"It's so narrow!" Ginny said, "I doubt the minibus would be able to fit down here!"

"No," said Neville, "I expect you can only walk down here or use those bicycle things."

"Hey, stop!" said Hermione, "This shop sells postcards. Let's buy some and we can send them tonight,"

"Good idea," said Harry, "We can send them with Remus' letter,"

"What? You mean using the owl?" asked Ron, loudly,

"Shush!" said Hermione and muttered "_honestly_!" under her breath.

They gathered around the shops entrance and looked at the small selection of postcards available.

"Right, we'll send one to Professor Dumbledore…"

"_Why_?" butted in Draco, sneering,

"Because he let us come on this trip," said Hermione, "I want to send one to my parents,"

"Yeah, me too," said Ron,

"Let's share one, Ron," Ginny suggested, "Neville, are you sending one to your grandma?"

"I suppose I'd better," shrugged Neville, "This one of this town with lots of flowers should do nicely."

"Draco, do you want to send someone a postcard?" asked Harry,

"No," said Draco, "There's no point."

Five minutes later, four postcards had been selected and purchased and the group was on their way once more.

They moved down the lane until it suddenly opened into a large courtyard with many different stalls and some folk music was playing.

"It's a market!" said Hermione,

"Shall we have a look, then?" asked Neville, "We've plenty of time."

Everyone consented and they spent a good thirty minutes wandering among the varying stalls, which sold anything from very smelly cheese to brightly coloured clothes. It was as they were passing a well stocked fruit and vegetable stall that it happened.

Draco slipped on an uneven cobblestone and bumped into Ron, who was unbalanced. He fell sideways right onto the fruit and vegetable stall, which collapsed under his weight and showered him in tomatoes, oranges, bananas, carrots and God knows what other vegetables.

Everybody gasped for a minute and then, as Ron slowly sat up with fruit raining down, they burst into giggles.

"_Idiot!_" screamed the stall holder, a squat middle aged women with greying hair, "_Mes fruits et mes legumes! Ils sont abîmés et sales! Tu es stupide!"_

Harry hastily helped Ron stand up and brushed the tomato pips from his clothes while Hermione and Draco tried to console the woman.

"C'était un accident," said Hermione,

"Il est tombé, il est vraiment dèsolé madame," tried Draco,

"Say 'je suis dèsolé', Ron!" hissed Hermione, "It means I am sorry,"

"Je… suis… dèsolé," stuttered Ron, in an English accent.

It didn't seem to have any effect and the French woman kept on ranting away at no-one in particular while sympathetic people started to put the fruit and vegetables back onto a nearby empty stall. The Hogwarts students silently helped and when they had finished, they flung a last "Nous sont dèsolé!" at the woman and quickly walked away.

They spent the remaining twenty minutes looking into various souvenir shops and the boys pulled Ron into a toilet and did the _Scourgify _spellonto Ron's clothes, which were slightly splattered with fruit and vegetable pieces.

Finally, at just gone three o'clock, the students met up with the teachers again and recounted their story to their amused teachers.

"Did you say sorry?" asked Professor McGonagall,

"Yeah, we must have said it four times in French but she refused to listen and kept screaming like a banshee," said Draco,

"We picked up the fruit," Ginny offered, "so it's not like we ran away or anything."

"Well, it was purely an accident and you did what you could to put things right so that's the end of it," said Remus, "Now, who wants to go on a pedalo?"

"A _what_?" asked four of the students,

"One of those, look," said Remus, pointing at yellow and light blue plastic boats scattered around the lake, "There's pedals which you power the boat with and a steering handle so you can turn,"

"Sounds good," said Ron, "Let's do it!"

Everybody agreed so Remus went to the little office and ordered some pedaloes. A young French girl came back with him. "Right, they only have three pedaloes available at the minute- one four seater and two two seaters." He considered for a minute. "Right, if Ron and Hermione take one of the two seater and Harry and Ginny take the other and myself, Minerva, Draco and Neville take the four seater. Is that OK?"

Harry's face burned at the thought of spending a long time alone with Ginny in the middle of a lake with no escape but he nodded with the others and the French girl led them to a yellow pedalo.

"Be careful getting in," she said, with a slight French accent. She held the pedalo steady along the side of the platform and Ginny carefully wobbled into the boat. Suddenly, it appeared she was about to slip and Harry shot out his hand and caught hers, making sure she didn't fall in. They remained connected as Harry heaved himself into his seat and settled down.

"Bare feet are best to pedal with," said the French girl, "You 'ave paid for thirty minutes. You must be back 'ere by ze end of zat time period or you 'ave to pay more. Enjoy yourself." She gave their pedalo a shove away from the platform and they were floating amongst the pond lily leaves.

"Well, here goes nothing," Harry grinned at Ginny and they both removed their socks and shoes and began to pedal in synchronisation.

For a while, there was complete silence save for the splashing of the pedalo and their breathing. Then, suddenly, Harry realised he was still holding Ginny's hand and immediately his hand began to get sweaty. He winced and loosened his grip, hoping Ginny would let go. When she didn't, Harry concentrated on pedalling around the lake. They passed Ron and Hermione, who were once more glued at the lips and not looking where they were going. They then passed Remus, Professor McGonagall, Neville and Draco who were frantically trying to get out of Ron and Hermione's way. After laughing at that and retreating to a safe distance from them, Harry and Ginny resumed their silent pedalling.

"Harry?" said Ginny, quietly, "Harry?"

"Mmm?" mumbled Harry, keeping his eyes fixated on the lily leaves,

"Why aren't you talking to me?" Ginny asked, "It's weird. Have I done something?"

"No," said Harry, "It's…complicated."

"Why?" asked Ginny, tightening her grip on Harry's sweaty hand,

"Erm… well…erm, you're confusing me," muttered Harry, feeling his cheeks grow hot.

Ginny widened her eyes. "How?"

"Well, I don't know how I see you anymore!" said Harry,

"Do you need new glasses or something?" asked Ginny, innocently,

"You know what I mean!" Harry said,

"No, I don't," Ginny said, "Just spit it out, Harry."

Harry gaped at Ginny; his face going even redder; his mind frantically trying to work out what to say. He stared into Ginny's warm brown eyes and saw what Ginny really wanted him to say, how she felt and how identical it was to his own feelings.

"Ginny?" he asked, "Will you go out with me?"

* * *

When the thirty minutes were over, Harry and Ginny pedalled back to the deck and climbed out. They held hands while the others returned and while everybody bought an ice cream from the stand nearby. It was only when they were climbing back into the minibus that somebody finally noticed.

"Hey! Harry and Ginny are holding hands!" shouted Draco. Everybody immediately turned to look.

"Well, look at that," said Ginny, coolly, "We appear to be holding hands, Harry. How funny."

She smirked at him and he grinned back and then settled down into his usual seat; Ginny cuddled up next to him.

"Well, it's about bloody time!" said Ron. Everyone burst out laughing and they returned to the gite in high spirits.

* * *

After a brief trip to the supermarket to pick up burgers, steaks, marshmallows and other important goods, they returned to the gite, where the French locals seemed to be setting up a party in the front courtyard. They had a large tent which people seemed to be going in and out and the front doors of the town hall were thrown wide open. The large French woman with whom Remus had spoken to when they had first arrived came bustling over with a graceful smile on her face.

"Bonjour Monsieur Lupin, Madame McGonagall, mes enfants!" she greeted, "ça va? Are you well?"

"Very well thank you Madame Lenoir," replied Remus, easily,

"Bien. Maintenant, we are 'aving a partee zis evening in celebration of Monsieur Jourdain's birthday. 'e iz quatre-vingt-dix- zat eez… ninety een eenglish!" said Madame Lenoir,

"Goodness," said Professor McGonagall, "Well, bonne anniversaire from us to him then. We won't disturb your party any longer,"

"You can stay eef you would like," said Madame Lenoir, waving her hand,

"Oh! Can we?" asked Draco and Ron,

"I don't think so," said Remus, "We have our own barbeque to be getting on with but thank you for the invitation. Bonsoir Madame Lenoir!"

They wished her a good evening and went into the gite to unpack the shopping.

"Right, Harry, Draco and I are on barbeque duty. Come on, let's go get it fired up," Remus said, shepherding the boys down the stairs,

"You four are helping me with the food preparation," Professor McGonagall stated, "Grab an apron and wash your hands."

* * *

Forty five minutes later, steaks were sizzling on the barbeque, the garden table was loaded with plates and bowls of salads, pasta and varying other foods and the six students and two professors were sitting around the garden eating burgers in buns and chatting. Remus kept watch on the barbeque and when the steaks were cooked and amazingly not charred, he carefully carried them over to the table and sat them on a plate.

"Steaks are done," he announced, loudly, quickly taking one before they all disappeared. Almost at once, a stampede of Hogwarts students rushed over, took a steak and refilled their empty plates and glasses.

"Mmm, kudos to the chef!" said Ginny,

"That would be me," said Harry, smugly,

"Oi Potter! Remus and I helped as well! In fact, we did most of the cooking," said Draco, placing his hands on his hips.

Harry didn't answer; he was too busy kissing Ginny.

"Oh _please_! Don't say you're going to snog Ginny at every moment of the day like Weasley and Granger!" Draco sighed,

"What's wrong with snogging someone every minute of the day?" asked Ron, through a mouthful of steak and salad.

Draco rolled his eyes at Neville and they both shook their heads.

When everybody had finished, Professor McGonagall, Hermione, Ginny and Ron cleared up and the remaining three cleaned off the barbeque and then lay back on the grass and star gazed.

"There's the Big Dipper," said Draco, pointing into the clear sky,

"Cool," said Harry,

"Look, Harry," said Remus, "See that star there? That's Sirius."

Harry stared at the brightly glowing star and smiled slightly.

"So, Potter? What is it with you and Sirius Black?" asked Draco, yawning slightly,

"Oh, he was my god father, you see and one of Remus' best friends- my dad was the other- but he died the end of last year," replied Harry, sadly,

"Didn't he kill your parents?"

"No, _Peter Pettigrew_ did," snapped Remus.

Draco's eyes widened. "Peter Pettigrew? He's stayed at our manor loads and at Severus' house!" He slapped his hand over his mouth. "I'm not sure I should have told you that."

"I'm glad you did," said Remus, grimly, "Hello Ginny. What do you want?"

"Can I borrow Harry for a minute?" Ginny asked,

"Oh yeah? To do what with exactly?" asked Draco, slyly,

"Never you mind," said Ginny, flushing in the darkness, "Come on, Harry."

Harry got to his feet and followed Ginny into the gite. When they got to the first floor landing, he stopped and pulled Ginny in for a kiss.

"Mmm, soft lips," he murmured, "Anyway Gin. Anything you particularly wanted?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, pulling Harry into the dining room where the others were crowded around the table, "It's Draco's birthday tomorrow and we have a card for him. Will you sign it?"

"Of course," Harry replied, taking the quill Ron offered, "Do we have a present or anything?"

"We have a cake," said Professor McGonagall, "And if we see something tomorrow, we can pick a present up discreetly."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll find out tomorrow!" smiled Professor McGonagall, "I'm sure you will like it. We saved the best for tomorrow."

"Hey _Draco_!" said Neville's voice, loudly from the stairs. He had been keeping watch for Draco and that was his warning to hide the card quickly. Hermione quickly put the card on a chair and sat down on it. Everybody tried to look innocent as Draco entered.

"Have you two finished snogging yet?" he grinned, when he entered, "Anyway, what's everybody doing?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Hermione, "So, Professor McGonagall when are we doing the chess final?"

"It is scheduled for tonight," Professor McGonagall replied, "Draco? Why don't you and Harry go downstairs and tell Remus."

"Good idea," said Harry, "Come on, Draco,"

"I'll come too," said Ron.

The three boys left the girls and Neville in the dining room and headed back to the garden.

"Hey Remus, professor McGonagall sent us to tell you that the chess final is on tonight," said Draco, cheerily,

"Yeah, and she would like to see you now as well," said Ron,

"When did she say that?" asked Draco,

"Erm… before you came up," Harry said, hastily.

"Oh I see," said Remus, giving Ron and Harry a knowing look, "How about you three stay out here and do…something and I'll give you a call when we're ready?"

"OK, that's fine," Harry said.

Remus nodded and disappeared into the gite.

"Well, that was odd," said Draco, airily,

"Was it?" said Ron, giving Harry a panic-stricken face, "I didn't notice anything."

"Come on. Let's play football. I'll be goalie!" said Harry.

They had played for ten minutes when a violent kick of Draco's made the ball fly over the fence separating their garden from the town hall's garden.

"Oh no!" moaned Draco.

"Eez zis your ball?" asked a French voice.

The English boys peered into the next garden and saw about three or four people of about nineteen or twenty. They were sitting against a wall and drinking from bottles.

"Yeah, can we have it back please?" asked Harry,

"Oui, 'ere," said a different voice, throwing the ball back, "Comment vous appelez- vous?"

"Draco, Harry and Ron," replied Draco, "Et toi?"

"Nicolas."

"Chloé."

"Stéphane."

"Pierre," were the replies.

"Would you like a… bière?" asked Dominique,

"Oui," said Draco, quickly,

"What's he offering us?" asked Harry,

"Beer," replied Draco,

"Oh, I dunno," said Ron, biting his lip and looking worried,

"Ron, don't worry," said Draco, reassuringly, "It won't hurt!" He accepted the three bottles of beer that Stéphane passed over and expertly opened all three using his teeth.

"Something tells me you've done this sort of thing before," said Harry, grinning,

"Of course," said Draco, giving a beer to Harry and Ron, "We Slytherins get drunk often. Severus even joins in sometimes and he always has a batch of hangover potion ready,"

"Cool. We should really do that," laughed Harry, "Well cheers boys. Here's to the rest of a brilliant holiday!"

They clanked bottles and took a deep swig.

"It's really nice!" said Ron, in a surprised tone,

"Yeah," said Harry, taking another gulp.

Draco grinned and the three boys steadily drank that bottle and another three each that Pierre provided them with before Remus came out to find them.

"Harry! Ron! Draco?" he called,

"Mmm, Remus?" said Harry, "hello!" Ron giggled furiously.

"O…K," said Remus, slowly, "What have you been doing?" He glanced around and his eyes came to rest on the twelve empty bottles. "Oh no, please say you didn't!"

"We did, Remus!" snickered Harry, "Beer tastes very tasty!"

"Yeah, it does!" said Ron, grinning widely,

"Oh, at least it wasn't Fire Whisky," muttered Remus, "Come on, boys. Stand up and let's go inside."

The boys stood with difficulty and swayed around where they stood.

"What's going on, Remus?" asked Hermione, who had just come outside with Ginny, "It's time for the chess final."

"Actually Hermione, I don't really think Ron and Draco are fit enough to play chess tonight," said Remus.

Ron giggled again. "Hey Hermy! Do you think I'm fit enough?"

Hermione cast a startled glance at Remus who shrugged. "Somehow they've managed to get hold of some beer and they've drunk four bottles each."

"_What _a load of idiots!" said Hermione, grabbing Ron by his arm and propelling him into the house.

Ginny giggled and did the same with Harry, who smiled innocently at her, leaving Remus to bring in Draco, who was slightly less drunk than Harry and Ron due to experience and the empty beer bottles.

Professor McGonagall would _not _be impressed.

* * *

**Thanks to Queenlover (thank you), griffindor-girl12, hypa4evr (it's ok), vegetarians will rule, Leosidekick224, seekerchic211 and Clopinette (thanks for the advice and offer- we're obviously not taught the right stuff in French classes. I'm British by the way).**

_**Updated as of 31August2005 with help from Clopinette. **_

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	7. Thursday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Seven**

**Thursday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.**_

* * *

****

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_First at all, thank you very much for letting us go on this holiday to France. We are really enjoying ourselves and we have all grown much closer. The journey to get here was long but very interesting and the gite in which we are staying in is very nice. So far, we have visited Paris, a local town and Beauxbatons. Beauxbatons has to be the best day yet. We made friends with six French students of our age and had a very good day, which included an excellent game of Quidditch and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The weather is hot and sunny. We hope you are well and look forward to seeing you soon._

_Thank you again._

_Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Neville and Ginny_

_(and the professors)_

* * *

_Dear Gran,_

_I am very well and I hope you are too. I am enjoying this educational trip to France. We have visited the capital city of France, Paris and gone up the Eiffel Tower. We went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic on Tuesday and it was incredible to see how foreign witches and wizards study magic. We come home on Saturday and I will owl you then._

_Love Neville._

* * *

_Hi Mum and Dad!_

_Even though I've been to France before, I'm still having a wizard time (excuse the pun) with my friends and my two favourite professors. We visited Beauxbatons- you know that other magical school I told you about and it was amazing. I made friends with a girl named Céline who is very friendly and loves books too! We've also done a sort of scavenger hunt in the local village and gone to Paris for the day, which involved an embarrassing moment where Harry and I showed the others how the Can-Can dance goes like and Remus and Professor McGonagall saw us! Ron and I have got closer and so have Harry and Ginny. It's great. Can't wait to see you._

_Lots of love and hugs_

_Hermione_

* * *

_Hello Mum, Dad, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George,_

_It's Ginny writing because Ron's still in bed. Not a surprise I know. We're all having a fantastic time and I can't wait because Remus let slip that today we're going to this Muggle theme park called Disneyland. When Hermione heard, she squealed very loudly and then told me all about these theme parks so now I can't wait! I've been learning a lot about Muggles in the past few days and I honestly don't know how they survive! Remus bought a Muggle camera and he says he will develop them magically and copy then when we return to Hogwarts so you can see what we've done. Ron and Hermione are finally going out, you'll be pleased to hear and me and Harry… well, we've got closer. _

_Harry, Hermione, Remus and Professor McGonagall say hello. Ron just snored at me when I asked him if he wanted to write anything on this postcard. He better get up soon as we're leaving in fifteen minutes! _

_A tout à l'heure (that's French for see you later!)_

_Love Ginny and Ron_

* * *

"Ooooooh!" said everyone as they stood just outside the gates of Disneyland Paris, waiting for Remus to come back with the tickets. They gazed up at the tall pink building with the covered archway leading through it which was the entrance to Disneyland Park. All around them were colourful flowerbeds and clever hedges in different shapes. Harry particularly liked one of an elephant up on its hind legs and its trunk in the air. He took a photo.

Once Remus had arrived back, he handed them a red ticket each and they slowly moved through the ticket barriers. Ron, Ginny, Neville and Draco got a bit muddled and had to be helped through. Ron had stared in horror as the machine swallowed his ticket and then gasped in relief as it suddenly popped up again. As soon as they were all through, they had their hands stamped by a Disneyland official.

"I can't see anything!" said Draco, inspecting his hand,

"It's ultraviolet," explained Remus, "If you go out of the park anytime during the day, you have your hand scanned with ultraviolet light when you return. It's useful."

"Cool," nodded Harry. He looked ahead of him along Main Street. The famous Sleeping Beauty Castle was sitting grandly in the distance and along both sides of the street were busy cafes and shops. It looked very exciting.

"Right then guys," said Remus, "Here's a map each of the park. On each I've circled the area in which we're going to meet every couple of hours throughout the day. You must remain in groups of at least two people and if you get lost find a Disney Official and they'll be able to contact me. Do you all understand?"

"Yes," replied everyone,

"Very well, we will meet you at half past one. Go and have fun now!"

The students cheered and moved off up Main Street chattering noisily. Suddenly Hermione squealed.

"_Look_! Look! It's Goofy!"

"What?"

"_Goofy_! He's a famous cartoon character. Harry, you've heard of him, haven't you?" cried Hermione.

Harry nodded and she continued. "Good! I want to get his autograph, come on!"

She dragged Ron's arm and the others followed curiously.

"Is that the real Goofy?" asked Neville,

"Oh no, he's only an actor dressed up," said Harry, quietly, "Getting autographs from the Disney characters is kind of like tradition in the Muggle world."

The others nodded and waited in line for a little while until it was their turn to meet Goofy. They walked over and as if by magic- it probably _was_ magic, Harry thought- produced an autograph book and a pen.

"Can you sign it six times for each of my friends?" Hermione asked, shyly, "Six fois… pour mes amies?"

Goofy nodded and took the pen and autograph book. He placed the book on Hermione's head forcing her to bend down slightly while he signed the book. The other students grinned and were attracted by a familiar laugh. Harry spun around and saw Remus taking a photograph of it, he laughed while Hermione blushed.

When Goofy had finished, he spread his arms out and gestured.

"Oh! Let's have a photo taken with him!" said Hermione, in excitement. She stood by Goofy and he put his arm around her. Ginny took his other arm and Harry went to stand next to her, taking her hand. Ron did the same with Hermione while Draco and Neville crouched down in front of Goofy. The watching tourists laughed as Goofy pretended to kick Neville and then Remus took a photo of the seven of them.

After waving goodbye to the professors again, the six Hogwarts students gathered around Ron's map which he was holding out.

"How about we head over to Adventureland first," suggested Hermione, "There are supposed to be some good rides there."

It was decided upon and the gang made their way down the wide paths and past all the happy tourists until they arrived at their destination.

"Can we go on _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril; Backwards! _first?" asked Draco, eyeing up the rollercoaster on their left,

"Oh, do we have to?" asked Neville, queasily,

"Come on, Neville!" said Ron, dashing into the entrance.

As it was still quite early the queue wasn't very long at all and the students whiled away the time talking about which rides they wanted to go on. Finally, it was their turn to get on.

"Will you sit by me, Harry?" asked Ginny,

"Of course," said Harry, clambering into the rollercoaster cart after his girlfriend and removing his glasses.

"Here we go!" hollered Ron, from the cart in front of them. Behind them, Harry heard Neville whimper quietly.

"Just close your eyes," said Draco, "And we'll go on a ride of your choice later."

The ride suddenly plummeted after the initial ascent and everybody opened their mouths and began to scream; some in enjoyment and some in terror. The wind was rushing into Harry's eyes so he was forced to close them. When they had stopped watering, he opened them again only to find themselves upside down on the loop-the-loop. "Oh my God!" he yelled.

In no time at all, they arrived back at the start of the ride and climbed out.

"That was excellent!" said Ron,

"Yeah!" said Draco, his normally pale cheeks flushed.

"Let's do it again," Ginny said,

"Not right now," Hermione said, "Maybe later once we've been on the other rides. Say, are you alright Neville?"

"I just feel a little sick," Neville replied,

"Oh. We'll let's go on a slower ride this time," said Ron.

Everyone agreed and they wandered around Adventureland looking for a suitable ride.

"What about _Pirates of the Caribbean_?" suggested Harry,

"Good idea. It's only supposed to be a water ride- kind of like the ferry but much, much smaller," said Hermione,

"OK," granted Neville and they went to queue up.

It was dark and dusty inside and they could hear the echoes of the pirates laughing and the water splashing. Once again, it was a short queue and as the ride boats were large, they managed to fit all six of them on; three in front and three behind.

The ride started slowly and the group contented themselves with looking at the moving models of pirates. They were very amusing and interesting. As the passed under a bridge, Draco laughed and pointed at a pirate that was hanging drunkenly over the bridge with a bottle in his hand. "Hey, it's you Harry!"

They all laughed. Professor McGonagall hadn't been exactly pleased with the state of Ron, Harry and Draco last night but once they'd sworn to never do it again or at least not on this holiday, she had been willing to forgive and forget. They had learnt their lesson when they had woken up that morning, all with pounding headaches and slight nausea and discovered there was no hangover potion to hand. Professor McGonagall had been kind enough to stop at a grocer on the way to the park and buy them a banana each, which apparently helped a hangover. Harry reflected that it did actually seem to help. Remus, on the other hand, had been very cheerful about the episode. He told Harry in private that James and Sirius used to get drunk regularly during his own school days and he supposed they would be very proud of Harry today.

"Erm, Harry?" said Ron, suddenly, "Harry? There's a dip coming up!"

Harry looked to see and sure enough there was a slight dip ahead of them into blackness. He turned around and winked at Hermione.

"Oh no! What are we going to do? We might sink!" he gasped.

Hermione caught on immediately. "Take a deep breath and when we go under, don't let go of each other!"

Ron, Neville and Ginny looked terrified but Draco was smirking. It appeared he had caught onto their little joke.

"Goodbye everyone!" he said, dramatically and took a deep breath as the boat went over the edge. They all screamed: three for real and three only for fun.

However, before they even finished screaming, the boat had reached the bottom of the very _short _dip and they were floating along once again.

"Hey!" said Ron, indignantly, "You tricked us!"

Harry, Hermione and Draco burst out laughing at the other three's faces and slowly Ginny, Neville and Ron saw how amusing it had been and laughed as well.

Shortly, they reached another dip and that was disappointingly short as well and when they turned the next corner, it was to find themselves back at the start.

"Well, that was a bit lame," said Draco,

"Yeah," agreed Harry, "the models were alright though,"

"Where shall we go next?" asked Ginny, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight after the dim interior.

"It's one o'clock," said Hermione, checking her watch, "How about we go and get one of those Fast Passes for _Space Mountain_ and then we have to go and meet up with Remus and Professor McGonagall."

That plan was agreed upon and they left Adventureland behind and made their way to Discoveryland. They saw a giant dome with the words _Space Mountain_ written on it. To the right of it were a number of booths with _Fast Pass_ printed on them. Everybody pressed a button on the machine and a fast pass for Space Mountain came out suddenly.

"Excellent," said Hermione, "We have to be back here between two o'clock and half past two,"

"OK," everybody said, "now, let's go to lunch."

* * *

The group spent lunchtime telling the two professors about their morning. They laughed heartily when Draco told them about the model they had dubbed as Harry. At that point, Remus started choking on a piece of baguette and after a bit of wheedling he explained that that was the exact position he'd once seen James in- on James' stag night in fact. Harry smiled in remembrance of his father.

They had to rush back into the park at ten past two to get onto _Space Mountain _using the fast passes.

"Look, here's a door you use for fast passes," said Ginny, once they had reached the ride. They entered it and walked down the lino covered floor and joined the end of a short queue.

"I must say fast passes are extremely useful," said Hermione, "That queue outside looked terribly long!"

In a matter of minutes, they separated into a group of two and four. Harry and Draco climbed into the front of the rocket shaped carriage that was behind the one that everybody else was in. They sat down and the safety bar came over their head.

"Hold on," grinned Harry, "I hope you're not scared of the dark!"

"Erm, why?" asked Draco,

"'Cause apparently the entire ride is in the dark! My cousin Dudley came here once with my Aunt and Uncle and he was boasting to me about the rides," said Harry, as the carriage began to move.

The other carriage had disappeared by now so they were on their own. They followed a track around a bend and then they slipped back in their seats as they began to ascend a steep hill.

"_Yeah_!" they screamed as they went into pitch blackness save for flashing lights. Harry tried to work out which direction they were going in but they were moving so fast, it was impossible to tell. Suddenly, the bottoms dropped out of their stomachs as they plummeted into darkness.

"Argh!" they both yelled. They could hear the echoes of other screams as they raced around the circuit. They were now going so fast that even the lights were blurred. Harry enjoyed every second of it.

After they had walked back into the sunlight on rather wobbly legs, they found the rest of the group and joined up.

"That was _amazing_!" Ron gasped,

"Yeah," said Neville, "Shall we go on again?"

"OK," Harry said, "Let's get another Fast Pass while we're here."

Everybody agreed and they went to the machines. While they were there, they noticed a booth with lots of pictures on screens.

"On-ride photographs!" cried Hermione, "Let's go and look!"

They eagerly ran over and searched for their faces. Everybody burst out laughing at Ron's face. He had his mouth wide open in a scream and his eyes were popping.

"Draco, do you want to get one?" Harry asked, scanning a list of prices.

"Yeah!" said Draco, "Look, we can get this one with two key rings for three euros, fifty."

They made their purchase and the others bought what they wanted. Then, they looked at one another.

"What shall we do now?" asked Ginny, taking out her map,

"Neville, is there anything you particularly wanted to go on?" Draco asked,

"Erm, yeah," said Neville, blushing slightly, "I saw this ride when we were coming through Fantasyland called _"it's a small world_". It looks good."

Hermione groaned for some reason but refused to say why. "You'll find out," was all she'd say.

With their decision made, everybody trooped over to Fantasyland and got into a long queue which appeared to comprise of young children and their parents.

"Is it just me or are we the oldest people here who aren't with little kids," asked Draco, slowly,

"We are," said Hermione.

Harry looked around as they waited in line. It was very airy, clean and colourful. There were little rowing boats in a queue with people being helped in and out and a wide passageway of water that disappeared behind a curtain. There was also a faint sound of music playing.

Before long, it was their turn and they all managed to squeeze into a blue boat. A Disney official gave the boat a push and they floated off and were immediately carried towards the curtains. Just before they were about to crash into them, they swung apart and they entered a dim but colourful world. There were lots of pictures and more models of different nationalities all doing things. As they passed the English scene there were little models dancing around a maypole. And they were all singing the same repetitive song. In high pitched voices.

"I wanna get off," said Ron, in a small voice.

The ride seemed to never end and that awful song pounded away at Harry's brain, burying its way inside so he'd never forget that…song.

About a million years later, or so it seemed to the gang, they reached another pair of curtains which swung open and they sailed into daylight once more. As they climbed awkwardly out of the boat and out of the ride, Ginny shook and said "I think I'm permanently brain damaged."

"Tell me about it," said Draco, rubbing his ears, "I really feel sorry for those ride attendants having to hear _that_ over and over again,"

"I bet they commit suicide after a while," chortled Ron.

"Told you," said Hermione, smugly,

"You never told us anything," said Harry, "You just said you'll find out and groaned!"

"Whatever," sniffed Hermione, "Anyway, has anybody else got any rides they want to go on?"

"I saw this ride called _Star Tours_," Ginny said, "It said it was a stimulator on the outside,"

"Don't you mean _simulator_?" snorted Draco,

"That might have been it," said Ginny, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"It's in Discoveryland," said Harry, after consulting his map,

"Excellent, then we can go on _Space Mountain _again," said Hermione.

They retraced their steps back to Discoveryland and located _Star Tours_. It had just finished and people were pouring out so the group quickly went inside and waited in the loading bays as they were dubbed. After about thirty seconds, a loud klaxon went off and the doors slid open with a soft hiss.

"Come on!" said Ron, bounding in and grabbing a seat in the back row. Everybody piled in after him and they settled down in the comfortable chairs. They had a great view of the screen and they watched it eagerly. The safety bar fell onto their laps and everything went dark.

A female voice came into the simulator and words and images appeared on the screens as they felt the simulator rise into the air. After the briefing, the room tilted and shrieks were heard. The mission had begun.

* * *

An hour later, it was half past five and they had been on _Space Mountain_ again and bravely attempted _Phantom Manor_. They had exited that ride bent over double in laughter because of a number of factors. Firstly, none of them had found it at all scary. Neville even said it was so not frightening, it had been funny. Secondly, Draco had them all in stitches by putting his finger in the air when they had passed some enchanted mirrors that made ghosts appear on the back of the carriages they were sat in. Draco's finger was in such a place that it was sticking right up the ghost's left nostril.

"That's an insult to Nearly Headless Nick, those ghosts I mean," giggled Hermione, "He would be deeply offended!"

Everybody laughed again and headed for _Autopia_ which was back in Discoveyland. Just as they were about to enter the car ride, Ginny clutched Harry's arm and pointed at a sign nearby. Harry read it:

_Honey, I shrunk the Audience_

_Show Times_

_On the hour and half hour from 9am to 9pm_

"Hey, that looks good!" he said to the others,

"Shall we go after tea time?" asked Neville.

This was agreed upon and they entered _Autopia_ with light hearts.

* * *

"I _so_ won!" said Harry,

"No, you didn't Potter!" argued Draco,

"Guys, I think you'll find it was _actually _me who won the race!" Ginny declared and quickly ran as her boyfriend and Draco charged at her in outrage.

Ron, Hermione and Neville laughed as they strolled along on their way to Main Street and dinner with their professors. The race they had had at _Autopia _had been very heated between Harry, Draco and Ginny. Hermione and Neville had taken it slowly at the start and Ron had calmed down after crashing into the side of the track and chosen to drive with his girlfriend and friend.

Main Street was very busy when they finally arrived and after a little bit of searching, they located Remus and Professor McGonagall at the Plaza Gardens Restaurant near Sleeping Beauty's Castle. They noisily crowded around a table and ordered drinks and food. Unsurprisingly, Ron wanted a coca cola.

"So, what have you all been up to?" asked Remus, gazing around.

Everybody launched in, describing their day and waving the _Space Mountain _photos underneath their teacher's noses. Remus laughed and in turn, they told the students what they had been doing.

"Well, we've been on some of the rides and we watched one of the parades this afternoon, which was excellent. There's supposed to be a superb parade tonight here, which is worth watching followed by fireworks," said Professor McGonagall,

"Cool. So, we want to watch _Honey I shrunk the audience_ after dinner," said Hermione,

"Ah yes, that sounded very good," Remus said, "Do you mind if we tag along?"

"Sure," everybody said.

At that moment, their food arrived and talking was irrelevant for a while.

Everybody had finished their meal, the dishes had been cleared away and everybody was just quietly talking when a glow caught Harry's attention. He turned his head and saw one of the Disney waiters making his way over to their table with a cake that had many candles on it. He looked over at Remus who winked and then nudged Ginny and Ron who were sitting either side of him. When they saw, they nudged Hermione and Neville and on cue everybody burst out with:

"Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Draco,

Happy Birthday to you!"

Draco stared and gaped in astonishment. A large portion of the restaurant had sung with them and was now watching Draco keenly.

"Draco! Blow them out!" Harry hissed.

Draco took a deep breath and blew all the candles out and everybody in the restaurant cheered. Draco turned bright red.

"Happy Birthday Draco," said Remus, handing over a card, "We did know and thought we'd surprise you,"

"You did surprise me," said Draco, taking the card and opening it, "I don't think I've ever been so surprised _or_ embarrassed in my life!"

Everybody laughed and took a slice of the birthday cake.

"You've come of age now, haven't you?" Harry asked, when they were on their way to _Honey I shrunk the audience_.

Draco nodded and raised his eyebrows in question.

"Well, you don't have to do what your parents tell you anymore," said Harry, "In the eyes of the law, you're no longer a child so you don't have to do what your father says. Hell, you don't even have to return home!"

Draco's eyes lit up. "You're right, Potter! Thanks."

"You're welcome and happy birthday," replied Harry, happily.

* * *

They caught the seven o'clock show of _Honey, I shrunk the audience_ and after about five minutes of waiting, they entered a large theatre with many rows of seats. They quickly bagged some seats right in the middle, put on their funny 3D glasses and waited patiently for the curtains to open at the front.

Soon, they swept open with a swish and everybody watched as Professor Szalinski arrived on screen to present his famous discovery: the shrinking machine. They all shrieked with laughter as they all appeared to get shrunk and admired all the special effects. Suddenly, everything went dark and a voice echoed over the auditorium.

"Where are all the mice? Oh my God! They're going towards the audience!"

Neville, Ginny and several other people screamed out in surprise and Harry jolted with surprise as something thin and whippy felt like it was running past the back of his legs, under the seat.

Draco laughed when he realized what was happening- a lovely sound that Harry wished he could hear more of when they returned to Hogwarts.

Towards the end of the show, a dog on the screen accidentally got enlarged and just before the curtains closed, it sneezed and the Hogwarts group felt moisture fly onto their faces.

"Eww!" said Hermione, wiping her face with her sleeve.

"I was sitting right in the line of the hose or whatever it was!" said Ron, with drips running off his nose.

Everyone laughed and got up to leave the theatre. On the way out, they had to drop their 3D glasses into a bucket.

"I want to keep them. They make me look cool," said Draco, with a pout,

"Oooh! Me too!" cried Harry, entering into the joke.

"Oh, I'm sorry boys but you can't keep them," said Remus, gravely, "We'll see if they're sold in any of the gift shops."

"OK," sighed Draco, reluctantly dropping his glasses into the bucket and following everyone outside. He winked at Harry who was beside him.

"Let's go on _Big Thunder Mountain_!" cried Ginny, "I saw it from _Phantom Manor_, and it looks so good,"

"I don't really want to," said Professor McGonagall,

"Oh come on, Professor," wheedled Harry, "Remus is coming on, aren't you Remus?"

"Oh...erm," stuttered Remus,

"See!" said Ginny, "Please?"

"Gryffindors are meant to be brave!" stated Ron, ignoring Draco's small snort,

"Oh, very well," conceded Professor McGonagall.

Everybody cheered and marched towards Frontierland.

* * *

"_How _long is this queue? We've been queuing for ages!" Ron moaned, shuffling his feet,

"We've just passed the sign saying we have fifteen minutes left," said Neville, pointing back to a sign,

"But we've already queued for half an hour!" Ron whined,

"Do you want some cheese to go with that whine, Ron?" Remus asked.

The others laughed.

"I've not heard of that before," remarked Hermione, "Oh, look only ten minutes to go!"

Twelve and a half minutes later, they were all seated in the rollercoaster carriage. Harry was sat with Ron and Draco, Ginny was with Neville and Hermione and Remus was sat next to Professor McGonagall, each looking white faced and nervous. They all gripped the safety bar in front of them and with a grunt the carriage took off.

Sixty wild and rocky seconds later, they were all back where they started, red cheeked and smiling. They clambered out and went to see the on ride photograph.

"That's a very nice photo," Remus commented, as he studied the screen where all eight of them were being thrown about and looking happy about it.

"It's two for six euros," Neville said,

"OK, we'll have eight copies then," Professor McGonagall said, fishing her purse out of her bag.

By the time all of the photos had been printed, paid for and placed in their special _Big Thunder Mountain_ frames, it was twenty to nine and as Remus said, it was time for them to head back to Main Street for the big parade.

They made it in five minutes and the two professors secured places on a balcony overlooking Main Street that was by the _Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station_. The students had disappeared into the shops, where they were having great fun.

"_Look_ at this cute Tigger toy!" squealed Ginny, cuddling it,

"I will buy it for you," said Harry,

"You don't have to…" began Ginny,

"Gin, you're my girlfriend. I will buy you whatever you like. I can afford it," said Harry.

Ginny smiled and kissed Harry in gratitude.

"Will you buy me something too?" asked Draco, grinning,

"Actually, you're supposed to find something you want for your birthday from us," said Harry,

"You're getting me a present as well as a cake and a card?" asked Draco,

"If you want one. Remus ordered me to ask," Harry answered, "Oh cool, look at this hat!"

He had picked up a baseball hat that had Goofy's head shaped onto it. The ears hung down over the wearers ears.

"Are you going to buy it?" asked Neville, flicking one of the ears,

"Absolutely!" laughed Harry.

Ron and Draco also decided to buy one: Ron had a Winnie-the-Pooh version and Draco had a Tigger one.

Just before nine o'clock, the students rejoined the professors up on the balcony. They laughed at the ridiculous hats that Harry, Draco and Ron were wearing and told Draco that the navy Disney t-shirt he had decided he would have for his birthday looked great. Just before the parade was meant to start, Ginny was pushed out of the way by two ladies.

"Excuse me," said Harry, loudly, "Ginny was standing there." The ladies ignored him only to talk to one another in another language.

"Leave it to me," Draco said, his eyes narrowed. He leant on the railing next to the ladies and began to speak a torrent of another language that certainly caught the ladies attention and made them blush and move away.

"_What_ did you saw to them?" asked Harry, incredulously,

"Oh nothing much. Just that they shouldn't push other people out of the way and then ignore them," Draco said, smoothly,

"Thanks Draco," said Ginny, reclaiming her space,

"Yeah cheers Draco," said Ron, roughly,

"You're welcome Ron," Draco said.

Harry took a deep breath. Maybe a friendly relationship between Draco and Ron wasn't so impossible after all.

* * *

"One, two, three!"

"SNOW WHITE!" the students roared, as the parade cart with Snow White and her Prince rolled slowly past their viewing point. Snow White turned around, looked at them and waved, smiling.

"Alright!" grinned a chuffed Ron.

Harry grinned back at looked out for the next parade cart. It was Beauty and the Beast.

"Crikey!" said Neville, making everyone chuckle, "Is he real?"

"No I expect it's just an outfit," said Hermione, "The actor must be absolutely sweltering under there!"

"Yeah," said Ginny, before turning to Harry, "You're my Beast," she said, softly.

Harry pretended to look offended before relaxing into a romantic smile and saying, "You're my beaut."

"Oh _please_!" Draco said, from Harry's other side, "Don't go all icky on me. I'll drown in it!"

Harry mock punched Draco and returned to watching the parade. All of a sudden, everything stopped and the music playing changed slightly. The parade cart with Aladdin and Jasmine had stopped right in front of them.

"_Look_!" Hermione gasped, "The platform with Aladdin on and Jasmine is rising!"

It was true and now that Harry listened, the music playing was _A Whole New World_ from the film 'Aladdin'.

"That's so clever," said Ginny, "I suppose it's meant to be the magic carpet?"

Harry nodded. He and Hermione had filled in the others on the varying Disney characters during the day. The parade set off again and the last float appeared with Minnie the Mouse on. They waved at her and she waved back. There was a loud round of applause as the street lights suddenly came back on and the buzz of conversation started again.

"That was amazing," Ginny sighed and Neville nodded in agreement,

"It must be very expensive doing that every single night," said Hermione, "You know with all of the lights."

Everyone nodded and Remus spoke up. "Soon, there will be a firework display and then we're going to return home. We won't be back until midnight so I hope you're not desperately tired."

"Nope," said Ron, bouncing around, "I feel like I could go on for hours!"

"That would be because you drank about two litres of coke," snorted Hermione, "I feel sorry for you guys having him in your room tonight. You'll _never _get to sleep!"

"Are you sure you don't want to swap Ginny for Ron?" Draco asked, slyly, "Then both you and Harry will be happy."

"I think that's enough of that, Mr. Malfoy," said Professor McGonagall from along the rail, "Anyway, the firework display is beginning."

Everyone fell silent as the first firework flared into the air and music pounded out of the speakers. The fireworks were very beautiful and the music made them even better.

"It's like loads of spells being cast at the same time," breathed Neville, never having seen a firework before,

"Yeah and then exploding," sniggered Ginny.

They watched with awe until the last firework slowly faded towards the earth and the hundreds of watching tourists began to move.

"Come on," said Remus, "Let's go home."

* * *

**Many thanks to Queenlover who was the ONLY person to review chapter six. Boo! This is my longest chapter yet so I expect lots of reviews lol.**

**I've updated some things in chapters five and six when my French grammar was rather shoddy but Clopinette helped me out so thanks. **

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


	8. Friday

**Hogwarts in France**

**Chapter Eight**

**Friday**

_**Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me**_

"Ron! _Will you shut up_?" growled Draco at half past two in the morning, "We're trying to get to sleep!"

"Sorry!" said Ron, "I just can't get to sleep and I'm _so _bored!"

"Well get up, go out of this room and get a drink of milk or something," moaned Harry, "We're all tired. It's not our fault you drunk gallons of coca cola!"

"You know what? I'm seriously considering exchanging Ron for Ginny," said Draco, "Then at least we'd get some sleep!"

"Alright, alright! I get the message!" huffed Ron and stalked out of the room.

"He's already sounding like Hermione," sniggered Neville as they listened to Ron cautiously climbing down the stairs.

Five minutes later he was back, glass of milk in hand and giggling slightly.

"I woke Remus up by accident," he said, "He's sleeping on the sofa."

"I wondered where he was sleeping," Harry said, "Anyway _goodnight_!"

Then there was silence.

* * *

"OK. Well today we don't have any planned schedule," said Remus,

"What are we going to do then?" asked Ginny,

"Anything you want. As we have yet another fine day, we could visit a town about half an hour away that has a large park and a lake with places to sit and sunbathe. We could have a picnic lunch there too," said Professor McGonagall,

"Baguette?" asked Draco,

"Yes Draco."

He groaned.

"Well, that sounds fine," said Ginny,

"OK, that's settled," said Remus, "last one in the mini bus is a rotten egg!"

* * *

Harry, Ginny, Draco, Neville, Hermione, Ron, Professor McGonagall and Remus crossed carefully over the road and headed towards the park. The sun was shining down onto their heads and they longed to cool down somehow. An ice cream would have been ideal but there weren't any shops nearby.

They found an empty spot and flopped down gratefully. Harry stretched out, lent up on his elbow and peered at the others.

"What's the time?" he asked,

"A quarter past ten," replied Remus, glancing at his watch, "so no lunch yet, Harry."

Harry mock groaned and grinned.

"Did we bring the football?" asked Ron, eagerly,

"Yes. It's in the minibus," said Professor McGonagall,

"Let's play!" said Draco.

Five minutes later, Draco, Harry and Ron had dragged Remus into playing football with them. The girls watched in amusement while Neville identified some odd looking plants growing in a ditch by the lake.

* * *

"Ah! I give, I give!" yelled Remus from under the pile-on. After their energetic game of football, the lads had taken to teasing one another. At first, Remus had tried to pacify them but then he found his Marauder streak and joined in. His last comment had made them gasp, Harry had yelled "PILE ON!" having seen it during his primary school days and within seconds, Remus had disappeared underneath the bodies of Harry, Ron, Draco, Neville and Ginny. It was childish but extremely good fun.

"Hello," said Harry, when he found himself face to face with Ginny while still on top of Remus,

"Hello yourself," smiled Ginny and leant over to give him a kiss.

"Ginny! Harry! Get off me now and stop kissing! It's time for lunch!"

This sentence had an immediate effect. Ron leapt off Remus with a roar of "Food!" Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry scrambled off his adoptive godfather and then helped Ginny up. Remus stood up gingerly and then clapped his hands.

"Ha! Fooled you!" he smirked.

"What? No! Get him!" Ron cried.

"No Mr. Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, sharply, "Remus is only kidding. Lunch is ready, come on."

The students scrambled over to where Professor McGonagall and Hermione were sitting, underneath a tall tree. They sat in a wonky circle with the food in the middle and dug in.

"Wha' 'o we nee' 'o 'o tonigh'?" asked Ron, through a mouthful of crisps and baguette sandwich,

"_Ronald_!" said Hermione, sternly, "Please do not talk with your mouth full!"

Ron finished his mouthful with difficulty and mumbled "Sorry Hermione."

The two professors looked at each other and smirked. They could see a long and lively relationship for the two.

"In answer to your question, Ron," said Professor McGonagall, "We need to pack, have our tea, tidy up the gite and there is the chess tournament which was postponed from Wednesday evening."

"So we'll leave here at about three o'clock as we need to visit the hypermarket on the way back to get souvenirs," said Remus, "Now, does anybody want one of these French biscuits?"

* * *

"We should be back in about half an hour and then we need to leave," said Remus, as the group began their walk. Everybody except Draco and Harry had decided to take a walk around the perimeter of the lake in the sunshine. The two remaining students leant back against the bark of the tree in which they had had lunch underneath.

"It's been a good week, hasn't it?" said Draco, comfortably

"Yes," Harry agreed, "It's going to be a shame to return to Hogwarts and have things go back to the way they were,"

"You mean us being bitter enemies and all that?" asked Draco,

"Mmm," was all Harry said.

An uneasy silence settled between the two for a few minutes. The wind rustled the thick green leaves above them and the long grass beneath their feet waved slightly. They could still hear the laughter of the rest of the group on their walk.

"Harry," said Draco, suddenly, "Harry, I really would like to remain friends with you, believe me, I really would but it's going to be too tricky, what with my reputation and everything!"

"Screw your reputation!" said Harry, vehemently, "You can't give up a good friendship like the one we've developed just for the sake of your_ reputation_!"

"You don't understand!" said Draco, turning to look straight into Harry's eyes, "If my father or the Dark Lord find out I've become friends with the very person they loathe the most, they'll kill me!"

"I'll take care of you. Dumbledore and I can sort something out to keep you safe!" said Harry,

"They'll kill me," Draco repeated, faintly,

"I'll keep you safe. You're a good guy and if you continue this path, you'll spend the rest of your life doing something you hate and you'll end up hating yourself," said Harry, quietly.

Draco wiped his fringe out of his eyes and looked desperately at Harry. "Do you promise you'll help me?"

"I promise," Harry said, solemnly, "Like I said yesterday, you're now seventeen and legally an adult so it's up to you what you want to do with _your_ life. You never have to go home again,"

"Thanks," smiled Draco, shaking Harry's hand, "You're a true friend."

"We'll speak to Dumbledore as soon as we return home and then go from there," Harry planned,

"OK," agreed Draco.

The two young wizards sat back and chatted about all sorts of things until the others returned from their walk. Everybody then piled into the minibus and they went to a hypermarket.

* * *

"Are we ready to pay yet?" called Harry, clutching his purchases,

"In a minute," said Hermione, "Ginny and I are just looking around this perfume section!"

The boys groaned. They had been waiting for ages for the girls and only had five minutes left to pay and meet their professors outside the hypermarket.

"Sure you've got enough there, Ron?" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow,

"I'm not sure…" said Ron, slowly gazing at the six different packets of sweets for his family, two large bottles of coca cola and varying other things,

"Who's got Professor Dumbledore's sherbet lemons?" asked Neville, from behind the two plants he wanted to buy for his grandmother and himself. Hermione had assured him that there was an anti-drying charm that they could put on the plants to help them survive until they reached Hogwarts.

"Me," said Harry, waving the extra large packet of the sour sweets their headmaster loved so much. He also held a packet of delicious chocolate biscuits that he couldn't resist.

"Here we are," said Hermione, cheerfully, weighed down under a new top, a small bottle of perfume and some souvenirs for her dentist parents that were definitely not sweets.

The Hogwarts students queued up at an empty till and dumped their purchases down on the conveyor belt- each person's separated. Everything was going smoothly and it was just Ron left to be served, when he opened his wallet to find he was two euros short of what he was planning on buying.

"Oh no!" he wailed, "Ginny you got any more money?"

She shook her head and he groaned.

"Here Ron," said Draco, pushing some coins into Ron's hand. Ron looked at them and then at Draco, blankly.

"Thanks Draco," he said, gratefully after being nudged by Hermione and giving his money to the cashier, "I'll pay you back as soon as I get some more money!"

"It's OK," said Draco, "It's only two euros." He wandered off, leaving the rest of the group to grab their varying shopping bags and scurry after him.

* * *

In no time at all, they were back in the gite that they had called home for just under a week and sent upstairs to pack as best as they could. This seemingly simple task quickly turned disastrous and it was amazing how far their possessions had spread in such a short amount of time.

"Has anyone seen my blue shirt?" Neville called,

"It's in the bathroom downstairs for some reason," yelled back Remus,

"Thanks," said Neville, hurrying down the stairs and nearly bumping into Ginny,

"Where's my teddy!" she asked,

"Aww you still sleep with a teddy!" shouted Draco, "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to transfigure it into resembling Harry? Or would you rather the real thing?"

"MALFOY!" yelled Ginny and Harry, simultaneously,

"Ginny, it's under your bed," said Hermione, helpfully, crossing the landing with something that looked suspiciously like a pair of boxers.

"_Whose _are _these_?" she demanded, holding them up between finger and thumb.

After each boy denied it, she threw them into the boy's room and went downstairs to help Professor McGonagall with the dinner. As for the boxers, they remained on the floor until they suddenly disappeared later that night when everybody was downstairs.

* * *

Amazingly, an hour later, everybody was seated around the dining table eating Spaghetti Bolognese with all their packing done save for items they still needed like pyjamas and toothbrushes. Remus had uncorked a bottle of champagne and they all held their glasses in the air.

"Here's to a fantastic holiday!" cried Harry, "All because I lost my temper and stormed off to play Quidditch!"

Everyone laughed and drank deeply. The happy mood continued throughout the spaghetti Bolognese and apple pie and ice cream which they had for pudding and then all the students chipped in to help wash up and clear away, leaving the professors to put their feet up and relax.

When everything was tidy, everyone took their places around the table with the two finalists in the centre. Ron had disappeared upstairs and returned five minutes later with their chess pieces and a stack of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks.

"Found these in my trunk," he said, before piling them on the sofa behind the table. He sat and faced Draco, who stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes.

"Welcome to the final of the Hogwarts in France chess tournament!" boomed Remus, "Our finalists comprise of Mr. Ronald Weasley…" Cheers rang out and Ron puffed out his chest. "…and Mr. Draco Malfoy!" An equal amount of cheers echoed through the room and Draco looked slightly relieved. "If you are ready gentlemen?" Both Draco and Ron nodded, "then you may begin!"

Draco, who was playing white, directed a pawn forward and the game began.

An hour later, the battle was still being fought strongly and neither player seemed to be letting up. The audience was still watching but not quite as intently and there was a lot of fidgeting going on. Ginny had ended up on Harry's lap and was leaning back against his firm chest with his arm around her waist. Hermione was sitting anxiously next to Ron, holding one of his hands but not speaking so as not to ruin his attention.

A further hour slipped by and it was nearing a quarter past nine.

"Aha!" whispered Draco, as he spotted a potential winning move. Ron looked at him with a worried frown on his face and then scanned the board. He couldn't see why Draco looked triumphant- he was probably just faking it. Hermione suddenly began to rub her thumb over his palm. _Merlin that feels good_ thought Ron, with shivers running down his spine, _Hermione's so gorgeous. I'm so glad I've got her; we have such a great relationship, why didn't I see it before. I've wasted years! _A slight cough interrupted his musings. _Oh yeah, the game against Draco. Gosh, he's so different now. It's a miracle! RON! Shut up and concentrate, let me see. Aha! That should do and then I can go back to dreaming about Hermione! _He took his move. _Oh no! Draco's looking smug…he's moving already… what's he doing? NO! _

"Checkmate," said Draco, quietly and Ron's King dropped his sword as a sign of defeat.

The room erupted into cheers and Draco was thumped on the back by Harry and kissed on the cheek by Ginny. Draco grinned.

"And our winner is Mr. Draco Malfoy!" said Remus, loudly, "Commiserations to Mr. Ron Weasley. You fought bravely." He presented Draco with a large bar of Honeydukes chocolate, which he had bought before they'd even left.

"Well done Draco," said Ron, shaking his hand, "You're like the first person to beat me for ages!"

"Thanks," said Draco, "We should play again at some point,"

"I'd like that," said Ron, looking surprised and happy.

Harry darted around and set off all of the any Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks while Remus poured everybody another drink of champagne. Professor McGonagall, Remus, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Neville, Harry and Ginny sat down again around the table, drinking their champagne, watching the fireworks explode all around the room and rounding off the end of an unforgettable holiday in France.

* * *

Everybody was up at seven o'clock the next morning and after getting washed and dressed and having breakfast and finishing packing, they spent the next two hours sweeping, dusting and stripping the beds to make the gite look like it had when they had first arrived. By half past ten, the trunks were securely placed in the trailer and the students were patiently waiting in the minibus while Remus and Madame Lenoir finished their conversation. Shortly afterwards Remus climbed into the minibus, revved the engine and they exited the courtyard, waving and shouting their goodbyes out of the open windows.

Harry kept his promise to Draco and within a few days after arriving home once more, he and Professor Dumbledore (who incidentally had been delighted with his present) had set up a safe place for Draco to go until the monster that called himself Lord Voldemort was gone for good. Eventually the good side did prevail over the darkness with Draco standing by Harry all the way.

But that's another story.

The End.

* * *

**Many thanks to Pyrowriter69, It Doesn't Matter At All (I had forgotten that), Queenlover, Petroleumjellydotone, YouKickedMEDog, HP's Twin, miss bear, dogbertcarroll (you've given me a great idea…stay tuned), Spacehog26, griffindor-girl12, sharkiebeetle, emeraldhazel, unicornluver and hypa4evr (yes that is how Space Mountain went but now there's a new ride called Space Mountain 2 (original) and I don't know what that's like!) I got 14 reviews! I'm not sure I've ever had that many for one chapter before!**

**Well that's the end of Hogwarts in France. I have plans for a sort of short spin off/ sequel, which I should have out very soon. I hope you enjoyed reading Hogwarts in France.**

**Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received. **


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